Assisting the Heart
by angel17712
Summary: AU. Shane never got sent to Camp Rock, and is more of a jerk than ever. Will Mitchie be able to do her job without cracking, or will she fall for the guy that lives to run her ragged? Will be Smitchie pairing.
1. The new PA

Assisting the Heart

Chapter 1- The new PA

Last Updated- 11/6/2008

Author- Angel17712

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the characters of Camp Rock. The only characters that I own are Leslie and Mrs. Stephenson, who are my own creations.

Summary- AU. Shane never got sent to Camp Rock, and is more of a jerk than ever. Will Mitchie be able to do her job without cracking, or will she fall for the guy that lives to run her ragged?

Author's Notes- Okay, I mentioned in the summary that this story is AU, which is correct. Mitchie still went to Camp Rock, but Shane was never sent there, meaning that he is still very much a jerk. Will they or won't they get together? I've already figured that out, but I'm not saying a word. That is up to you to decide. When this story starts, Mitchie is 20 and Shane is 22. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Hope you all enjoy this!

A/N 2- I want to dedicate this first chapter to Enigmaforum, who is absolutely awesome! Thank you so much for being my sounding board for this story! -hugs- To everyone else who was my sounding board as well, y'all are great!

* * *

Mitchie took a deep breath before grasping the handle and pushing it gently down before pulling the door open to enter the office. Noises like phones ringing, voices talking, and staplers clicking assaulted her ears, making her release the breath she'd been holding in a slow huff. Tightening her hold on her things, she stepped forward to the desk, thankful that there was no one there.

The dark skinned woman at the desk lifted her head and smiled when she saw the young girl approaching. "Mitchie! How are you today, dear?"

A smile lit up Mitchie's face, making her feel a bit easier. Mrs. Stephenson was one of her favorite people by far that she'd had to deal with since before getting into college UCLA. "I'm doing great, thanks for asking. I'm here to turn in my internship application and other forms that you gave to me a few days ago."

"Well, you certainly wasted no time in bringing them back, so I thank you for that, hon," came the reply as she took the offered information. Mrs. Stephenson looked over each page with an eye for detail, making sure that everything was taken care of, not wanting there to be any issues. "All right, Mitchie, I think we're good. The only thing I need from you is a headshot that I'll send along with your resume and profile out to people who want interns with your interests in mind, all right?"

"Oh, sure. Um, no problem," Mitchie replied. She carefully set her bag down on the floor and hoped that her hair was fine before moving where the older woman wanted her to stand. One cue and a flash later, and Mitchie's photo was taken, with Mrs. Stephenson in a bit of awe.

"In all my years here, I don't think I've ever seen anyone take that nice of a photo before."

Mitchie grinned. "It sorta reminded me of getting my picture taken when I went to go get my permit and then my license. You just hope that it doesn't turn out completely horrible."

"I know that feeling. All right, so that's done. Here's your slip telling you what we accomplished, and you're good to go. I wish you luck with your internship, dear," Mrs. Stephenson called out as Mitchie turned to leave.

"Thank you! Have a great day!" Mitchie called over her shoulder, heaving a sigh, feeling happy that what she had come to do was done.

A figure sat in a desk chair behind an oak desk, his curly head leaning backwards, relaxing and grateful for the silence. Jason, band mate number one and the now only slightly airheaded guy, was out with his girlfriend, Ella. Band mate number two, Shane, was most likely either complaining about the fact that his clothes hadn't been washed right or that his room hadn't been cleaned correctly. "Either one of those two or something else entirely," mumbled Nate to himself. He could care less what Shane was doing so long as he wasn't bothered. He'd sent off Connect 3's current PA, Leslie, off to get profiles and resumes from the nearby colleges that had hopeful interns looking to apply. "God only knows that we need someone else to deal with the overflow of crap that Shane shovels out all day long," he said, shaking his head as he remembered how demanding his friend and band mate could be. If it wasn't one thing, then it was the other that he needed to have done.

A knock on the door and a head poking in disrupted his thoughts. "Mr. Thompson?"

Nate smiled and waved her in. "Come on in, and remember, it's just Nate, okay?"

Leslie blushed a deep red. "All right, _Nate_. So, I dropped by all of the surrounding colleges and picked up the internship applications that they had for anyone that was interested in the music field. I also had some sent in from other colleges. I hope that that's okay," she said as she placed a large stack of folders on his desk.

"No, no, it's great. This is awesome and thank you so much for doing this." Nate glanced at his watch and saw that it was nearing 5:30 p.m. "Tell you what, head on home. We don't have anything planned for tonight, thankfully. It's early, and anything that one of us needs, I'm sure we can take care of it. If there's a major emergency, one of us will give you a call."

"Oh, thank you! I owe you one, Nate."

"You don't owe me anything. Just make sure you're here tomorrow on time and we're good," he told her with a smile.

"I'll be here at 9 a.m. sharp," she replied before leaving the office and shutting the door behind her.

He exhaled a breath before looking at the high stack of folders and wrinkling his nose. _'Because this is going to be so much fun, picking out one, maybe two people at the most, to be interns to take care of all the extra stuff that Leslie can't take care of. Here goes nothing,'_ he thought to himself as he grabbed the first folder. One glance at the resume and profile made him shut it quickly with a grimace. "Maybe the next one," he murmured as he picked up the topmost folder. He glanced at the resume and shook his head. "Next." He continued to pick up folder after folder, looking at the contents inside before shaking his head yes or no and deciding where to put the folder.

After nearly forty-five minutes of looking at applications, a voice downstairs traveled up to his ears, making him smile gratefully. He picked up all three stacks of folders and put them together in one pile in his arms before leaving his office and heading down the stairs quietly. A dirty-blonde colored head was poking above the top of the couch, making him grin. He quietly snuck up behind the couch before pouncing.

"Boo!"

"ACK!" came the shriek in reply, making him laugh even as he moved into the line of fire of the person he'd just scared. The folders were placed on the table, and just as he'd thought, a pillow was launched at his head, forcing him to use his hands as a shield against the oncoming object. He managed to catch the pillow before it hit the floor and flopped down on the couch next to his girlfriend and one of the band's main producers, Caitlyn Gellar.

"Please don't scare me like that in the future unless you want me to kick your ass, okay?"

"Well, hello to you, too."

She giggled a bit before resting her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry. Had to razz you a bit there, couldn't resist. How are you? How'd your day go?"

"You mean other than Shane driving our PA insane with his demands and me practically losing my mind? It wasn't too bad," he replied sarcastically.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "You know, one of these days, I'm going to shove my foot up that boys' ass."

Nate snickered. "I can't wait till that happens, baby."

Caitlyn grinned evilly. "Oh, don't worry. It might happen no matter what. What's that you got there?" she asked, indicating the files on the table in front of them.

He sighed before turning slightly to answer her. "I have over a hundred people to choose from to be a new intern for Connect 3, and I can only choose one of them. So far, all of them either aren't qualified enough, or they have a record of some sort. I haven't found anyone yet that's good enough."

"Mind if I take a look? Help you out?" she asked as she leaned forward.

"No, not at all. Be my guest." She grabbed the stack of folders and began to browse through them, making remarks to herself at times. Nearly halfway through the stack, she saw a familiar face and grinned before holding the folder out to show him. "What about this one?"

Nate took the folder and looked at the photo that was attached before checking the resume in the pocket. He heaved a sigh before turning to his girlfriend. "She doesn't have a record or anything and her resume looks great, but I don't know, babe."

"Please? She seems like she'd be cut out for the job," Caitlyn asked with a tiny smirk.

"Wait. Why do I somehow get the feeling that you know her?"

"Because I do," Caitlyn said triumphantly. "She and I met at Camp Rock and became best friends. I know she might not have a ton of qualifications, but I know she'd be good."

"Think she'd be able to handle Mr. Egotistical himself? Because there are some days where even I can barely do that," he retorted.

"Trust me. I know her. We've kept in close touch since camp, and I know that she'd do an awesome job at this. Please?"

A pout broke out on her face as she straddled in his lap, making him groan. "Caitlyn, I have to really think about this. I can't just--" A moan escaped from his lips as she began to place tiny kisses and bites on his neck as she slowly moved toward his ear.

"Just promise me that you'll have her come in for an interview and give her a serious chance. That's all I'm asking," she whispered throatily, making him groan.

"You're killing me here, you evil woman," he said through gritted teeth.

"Kinda the plan. What's it gonna be, Mr. Businessman? Yes or no?" she asked before finding the one spot on his neck that she knew he wouldn't be able to say no to and began to lave at it with her tongue.

"Uggh. Fine, you win."

"Mmm, I love winning," she replied with a sultry grin before capturing his lips with her own. The pair was caught up in a passionate kiss, not noticing one of Nate's bandmates and friends, Shane, enter the room.

"Do you guys mind moving that somewhere else? I'd really rather not be scarred for life by the sight of you two getting ready to screw each other silly on the couch," he said with annoyance, only receiving a middle finger from Caitlyn in response. "No thanks, I don't have a death wish."

Grinning inwardly, she continued to kiss her boyfriend, noting that he was in no rush to stop what they were doing, either. She let out a long moan, knowing that it would drive Shane nuts to hear it. The gagging noise that they both heard confirmed her thoughts, making them part, both trying to catch their breath.

"Problem, Shane?" Caitlyn asked breathlessly.

"Uh, yeah. You two about ready to bone each other on my couch," he retorted.

"Technically, it's Nate's couch, so if we want to have sex on it, then we will. And don't even try to tell me that you haven't ever kissed any of your floozies on it," she replied with a triumphant grin.

Shane rolled his eyes. "Whatever, fine. Do either of you know where the PA is? Um, Lara? Carrie?"

"You mean Leslie, the girl that I hired after you fired the last PA?" Nate spoke up heatedly.

"Yeah, her. Where is she?"

"I gave her the rest of the day off. God only knows that she has enough of your shit to deal with on a day-to-day basis," Nate shot back.

"Gee, thanks. I wanted her to go out and get me a coffee," he said childishly.

"Wow, isn't that such a shame. Shane Gray has to actually go out and fetch his own coffee, or somehow manage to figure out how to operate a coffeemaker. It's such a travesty," Caitlyn mocked, her hand on her head as she pretended to swoon.

He rolled his eyes and flipped the middle finger at her over his shoulder as he left the room. "No, thanks. I'm really not interested, and I already have a boyfriend," she called out with a grin.

"So back to this whole intern thing. Did you see anyone else that looked good?" Nate asked.

Caitlyn sighed before picking up the rest of the folders. She took a few moments to look through the rest of them before shaking her head. "Honestly? Not really. And no, just for the record, I'm not just saying this because I know Mitchie and she's my friend. I think she'd be really good at this job. She'd be committed, on time, and extremely loyal. I know you'd be able to count on her, and she doesn't take crap from anybody, the last time I checked."

"Something I'm sure she got from you," he said with a grin.

"Mmmm, maybe," she replied with a grin.

"All right, I'll give her a call and ask her to come over here tomorrow for an interview. How does that sound?"

"Is it okay if I'm here? Please? I'd love to see her again," Caitlyn asked with her specifically made "Nate" pout.

He groaned and nodded. "All right, you can be here, but I'm not making any guarantees about her getting the job the second she walks in the door of when she leaves. I gotta think about it, okay?"

"Okay," she said with a nod as she stood up and pulled him up with her. "Go on. You've got a phone call to make."

* * *

Mitchie took a deep breath to calm her nerves as she pulled into the driveway of the large two-story brick house where the gentlemen of Connect 3 lived. She parked her ruby red 2006 Pontiac Grand Am before grabbing her bag that was on the seat next to her, getting out of her car, and hitting the button to lock it. A beep came from the vehicle, assuring her that it was locked, as she began to make her way up the driveway, noticing the other cars in the driveway. She noticed one in particular, a blue 2007 Saturn Skye convertible, that she'd definitely seen before that had been driven by a very good, close friend of hers that she'd met years before. Not wanting to get her hopes up, she just assumed that it could have been someone else's. A pleasant smile made its way onto her lips as she walked to the front door, ringing the doorbell.

As she waited for someone to let her in, she remembered the phone call that she'd gotten just the day before from one Nate Thompson.

"_Hello?" she asked as she picked up the phone, not noticing the number on the Caller ID._

"_Hi. Is Mitchie Torres available?" a voice inquired._

"_This is she. Who is this?" she requested to know, slightly scared that someone was calling her and she had no idea who it was._

"_I'm sorry if I scared you, Ms. Torres. My name is Nate Thompson, and I'm one of the members of Connect 3."_

"_Oh.......oh! Hi, Mr. Thompson! Er.....Nate! Ummm…how can I help you?" she inquired, trying to calm herself down._

"_Actually, I'm the one that is calling to ask for your help. I received your internship information along with many other applicants, and I'm in need of an intern to do work for myself and my two bandmates. I've looked over your profile and information, and I was wondering if you'd like to come in for an interview."_

"_Ye-yeah. Yes! I'd love to! Thank you for calling me and making me this offer."_

"_It was my pleasure. Tell you what, I'm going to hand you over to our PA, and she'll give you the address and directions on how to get here. I'll see you tomorrow morning, eleven a.m. sharp."_

"_I'll be there. Thank you again, Mr. Thompson," she replied._

"_It's Nate, and you're welcome," were his last words to her before the PA came on the line._

She hadn't expected for her internship resume and profile to be given to any big hotshots, let alone Connect 3, one of the hottest Pop sensations on the music market. Her emotions were more jumbled up than a ball of rubber bands at this point; she was excited, nervous, happy, scared, you name it, she was probably feeling it. She took another deep breath and exhaled to calm herself down, looking down at herself to make sure she looked proper. Her white blouse and navy blue jacket were both pressed, her skirt that she had on going to her knees with not a wrinkle in sight, and her black heels had just been shined recently. She nodded to herself, pleased that everything about her appearance was fine. _'Now all I just have to do is try not to make an idiot out of myself in front of the three of them, and I'll be fine. I think,'_ she thought to herself.

The door swung open to reveal a girl that looked to be nearly her age or possibly a bit older dressed in a woman's dress suit and sandals.

"Hi! You must be Mitchie. I'm Leslie, Connect 3's PA. Nate told me you were coming," Leslie introduced, holding her hand out.

Mitchie shook hands with Leslie, following the PA when she was waved in. She closed the door behind her, taking in the large house. The entryway was simple with white walls until you walked into the living room, which was a pale shade of yellow. Furniture was set up in the room around a coffee table and the television, with the large dining room and kitchen nearby, the walls being white for both rooms. The front room, a sort of sitting room, looked like it was used to entertain people when they visited, the furniture looking as though it had barely been used and the walls painted a dark burgundy.

A voice coming from the nearby intercom snapped her out of her reverie. "Leslie! Is Ms. Torres here yet?"

"She just arrived, boss. I'm bringing her up now," Leslie replied as she pressed the button. She released it before waving to Mitchie. "Come on, the office is upstairs."

The pair walked in silence up the stairs until Leslie spoke. "He's only asked me if you were here yet ten times. He seemed a bit nervous and very stressed."

"Is he okay?"

"Oh, he's all right. He's just a bit stressed out from this whole process. He had a few other people come in, but so far, it doesn't sound like he's hired anyone for the job. To me, you look like the best person that we've had all day. Everyone's either been a total idiot or a complete witch, and that's saying something."

Mitchie laughed slightly. "Has he told you anything about what kind of work I'll be doing?"

"Not really. I'm gonna take a guess that it's all of the overflow stuff that I never manage to get done, due to pain in the rear end that is Shane Gray," Leslie replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Shane Gray? How demanding are we talking?" Mitchie asked curiously.

"Oh, you name it, he's asked for it. He wants only the best, and makes sure that that is what he gets. He's arrogant and hard to work for, so you'll have your work cut out for you, I'm sure," Leslie told her nicely. "Here we are."

Leslie opened a door, revealing a modestly furnished office with someone sitting behind the desk that Mitchie assumed was Nate. And in one of the chairs across from him sat….

"Oh my god! Caitlyn?!?"

"Hey!" Caitlyn waved happily as she jumped up and ran over to greet her friend.

"What are you doing here? I saw your car in the driveway, but I wasn't sure if it was you or not," Mitchie replied, not nearly as nervous as she was before.

"It's a bit of a long story, and we'll chat later, because I know you're here for your interview with Nate," Caitlyn replied, hugging her friend.

"Thanks for bringing her up, Leslie. Do you mind having Jason come up here so he can meet Mitchie?" Nate requested politely.

"Sure thing. I'll have him come up in a bit."

"Leslie, can you get me some coffee please?" came a disgruntled voice from the speaker on the wall in the office.

The young girl rolled her eyes. "Sure, give me just a few minutes and I'll have it up to you."

There was no thank you from the male on the other end, making Leslie just growl in frustration and shake her head before shutting the door behind her.

"Come on in, Mitchie. Please, sit down," Nate asked, indicating the chair on the other side of his desk.

Mitchie swallowed before sitting down as he'd asked, placing her bag on the floor. She glanced around the office, noting that it had a bit of a homey yet business-like feel. She grinned when her eyes fell upon one of her best friends that she'd met and befriended at Camp Rock. The pair had met there and had become fast friends, playing in the Final Jam together and coming close to winning.

"So, Mitchie, I've been looking over your profile and resume. It says here that you're currently enrolled at UCLA and you're there to obtain your bachelor's degree in music, is that correct?"

"Yes, sir."

Nate chuckled a bit. "It's all right, Mitchie. You can call me Nate, I'm not going to get mad at you if you do. 'Sir' makes me feel very old."

"Okay, Nate it is."

"I have to ask you: do you think you're cut out for this job?" he asked, looking directly at her.

"With all due respect Nate, I'm not even entirely sure as to what my job is. I mean, I know that I'm most likely one of many that you've had come in for an interview, but I have no idea as to what I'm going to exactly be doing," she answered honestly, shrugging her shoulders.

"Well, it's going to be pretty basic. You'll be doing anything that Leslie can't manage to get done, whether it's picking up dry cleaning, getting coffee, buying groceries, taking care of setting up our schedules, you name it," he replied.

"All right. Then yes, I do think that I'm cut out for this job. I believe that I can do this job efficiently and I have no desire to turn against you or either of the other members of Connect 3," she told him confidently.

"That's good to hear. There is actually something that I want to talk to you about, and I want to wait till—" The sound of the office door opening cut him off.

"You rang?" Jason said teasingly.

"No, I didn't ring. I asked Leslie if she could tell you I needed to see you," Nate replied in annoyance.

"Exactly! You rang!" Jason retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Guys!" Caitlyn interrupted.

"Sorry," both of them said.

"Do they do this a lot?" Mitchie whispered to Caitlyn.

"All the time," her friend replied.

"No, we don't," Nate shot back, glaring slightly at his girlfriend. "Anyhow, Mitchie, this is Jason. Jason, this is Mitchie. She's going to be working with us, sort of like a second personal assistant."

"Well, let's just hope that Shane doesn't fire her for doing something wrong," Jason quipped, rolling his eyes.

"What do you m-mean?" Mitchie asked nervously.

"Shane, our friend and band mate, has a tendency to fire the personal assistants that we hire, usually for not doing something exactly as he wants it to be done," Jason supplied.

"How many has he fired?" she asked.

"He's fired at least forty of them," Nate answered. "We lost count awhile ago."

"Oh, I see," Mitchie said nervously.

"That's why I wanted Jason to come up here, for two reasons. The first was so he could meet you, and the second was to ask him something. Jason, come here for a sec," Nate waved him over as he stood up. Jason walked over to his friend and the two whispered behind a folder for a moment before agreeing.

"Finally! I think that sounds great!" Jason agreed excitedly.

"What is it?" Caitlyn asked.

"Well, I asked him if he'd be okay with something and he said yes. Mitchie, seeing as how Shane has been the one firing the assistants that we hire, the only way that you can be fired is if you quit. How does that sound?"

"Wait, hold on a minute. What about you and Jason? Neither of you want to fire me?" she asked worriedly.

"Oh, please. You're fine. Nate likes you, his girlfriend is your friend, I think you're pretty cool, and I can't wait to hear what Shane says when he hears this!" Jason grinned evilly.

Mitchie smiled back, taking a minute to process everything that she'd just learned. The only way she would lose her job was if she quit, and she didn't intend on leaving until she had finished her internship, which was at least a year, if not more. She looked up at Nate and Jason before nodding confidently. "All right, that sounds great. I'm just a little confused. Does this mean that I have the internship?" she queried.

Nate held out his hand. "Welcome to Connect 3."

Mitchie shook his hand happily. "Thank you so much, you have no idea."

"I think I do. Just make sure that you're here on time tomorrow morning, nine a.m."

"I will!" Mitchie said confidently as she grabbed her bag and walked to the door before opening it, only to be met by the sound of an upset voice.

"Wh-what did I d-do? I-i made it j-j-just right," Leslie stuttered through her tears.

"For starters, you didn't put enough sugar in it, the cream tastes like it's spoiled, and the water is scalding hot! How am I supposed to sing if my vocal chords have been burned because you didn't do what I asked? Now, are you going to get your things and leave or will I have to have you thrown out?" Shane barked.

Leslie swallowed hard and brushed at her tears before taking a deep breath. "No, I can get my own things, you asshole!" she retorted before swinging her hand back and letting it connect with his cheek. The audible crack made everyone excluding Shane and Leslie gasp aloud. "And don't even think of trying to sue me! I have connections all over this state and I'll win against you in a heartbeat!" she hissed before pushing past him to stomp down the stairs.

Snapping out of the haze that he was in, Nate glared at his friend. "What the hell did you just do?"

"I fired her," Shane said simply, rubbing at his cheek that was now adorned with a handprint.

"Yeah, we kinda all got that. You fired her because she didn't make your coffee right?!"

"Oh, she'll get over it. She'll find another job as someone else's PA," he retorted snottily, still rubbing at his jaw.

"You know, if it had been me, I'd have kicked your ass," Caitlyn replied with a grin.

"Fuck you, Caitlyn," Shane growled.

"Excuse me! Don't ever speak to her like that again, do you understand me?" Mitchie called out, her chest heaving in anger.

"Who the hell are you?"

"She's our new PA," Nate informed him.

"Oh, good. Well, so long as you're the new PA, let me inform you that I'll do or say whatever I want without you saying anything to me about it. Now, do you think you can run along and get me some ice?" he said snidely.

"Let me think about that……no," Mitchie replied, shaking her head.

"What?"

"You heard me. I'm not your maid, and you had better be pretty damn grateful that I didn't leave a matching mark on the other side of your face for saying that to my friend. The last time I checked, you have legs that work, so you can get your own ice."

"I'm your boss, and you're the new personal assistant. I didn't ask for you to tell me no," he growled, standing nose to nose with her.

Mitchie gave him a sickeningly sweet smile before turning to face the man who'd just hired her. "Nate, am I on the clock yet?"

"Not until you start work tomorrow," he told her with a grin.

"Thanks," she said politely, turning back to face Shane. "Sorry, Mr. Gray. Looks like you're on your own, but I'm pretty sure that the icemaker in your freezer works and that you know how to use that to get what you need. Have a nice night," she told him before turning on her heel and walking down the stairs.

"I love that girl!" Jason cried out happily.

The moment the front door shut behind Mitchie, Shane rounded on Nate and exploded. "Okay. What the hell was _that_?"

"What do you mean?" Nate asked, feigning innocence.

"I mean that! Who the hell is she, and why is she our new PA? And why did you let her talk to me like that?" Shane fumed, barely keeping his control in check.

"Which one do you want me to answer first?" Nate replied, a grin on his face. The glare that Shane gave him only made him have to try to stave off any laughter before it bubbled to the surface. "Her name is Mitchie Torres, and she's doing her internship with us. She'll be working for and with us, at least a year or possibly more, it depends. And hey, you were the one who insulted her friend, who's also _my girlfriend_. You just better be thankful that I didn't decide to knock your lights out either," Nate told him coolly before walking down the stairs, Caitlyn and Jason behind him.

Shane exhaled sharply before placing both of his hands on the wooden banister next to him, the urge to break something becoming stronger and stronger by the minute. He took some deep breaths, attempting to calm himself down, before an insane grin took over his face. He knew exactly what he could do! He'd do the same thing with her that he'd done with every other PA that had somehow managed to botch things up: he'd look for the smallest reason to fire her, and he knew that it wouldn't be long before she'd be gone, never to darken his doorway again. He almost gleefully walked into his room, shutting the door behind him, ready to put his plan into action the next day.


	2. Coffee and Confrontations

Assisting the Heart

Coffee and Confrontations- Chapter 2

Last Updated: 12-19-08

Disclaimer: I don't own Camp Rock, the characters, and so on, because seriously, I'd be really, really rich then, lol. I do, however, own Steven the delivery guy and Todd. If I did own Camp Rock, let's just say that things would have gone so much more differently.

A/N- Okay all! Here is chapter 2. Sorry it took me so long to get out, I do apologize! Lately, I've been busy with a class that I'm taking for work, so that gets first priority. Anyhow, I do know that this chapter is very long, but I'm okay with that. I didn't want to add much more to it because then it would have made it weird and awkward trying to find an appropriate ending. And yes, Shane and Mitchie are going to happen, I promise! Just not for awhile. :grins evilly: This chapter is dedicated to the people who are my sounding board! I owe all of you hugely for your help! It means the world to me! And thank you to my reviewers! Enjoy!

* * *

Mitchie rang the doorbell at 8:55 a.m., glad that she was early. She gave herself one last look over before deciding that she looked presentable. The door swung open, making her turn around to see Nate looking back at her.

"Wow, you're early. That's…..unusual," Nate stated slowly as he waved her in before glancing at his watch.

"Sorry, I prefer to be early or right on time, rather than late. Good morning, by the way," she replied.

"Good morning. Before I forget, here are the keys to the house and the office so you can get yourself copies made this afternoon. The locksmith downtown knows you're already coming," he informed her as he handed her a set of keys.

"Thanks. You know, I could just use Leslie's keys if that would make things easier," Mitchie replied.

"No, it's fine. She had to turn them in with security before leaving, so we usually never see any of the copies that we made before ever again," Nate replied too nonchalantly for Mitchie's taste.

"You say that like it's expected, like it's become something that you're used to," Mitchie said.

"Well, when you have more than forty personal assistants that get fired, you tend to get used to it. I don't want you worrying about your job, though. Just remember what I told you yesterday. The only way you can lose your job…."

"Is if I quit," Mitchie finished for him.

"Yep. Just remember that, and tell it to Shane if he even so much as considers firing you. If he has any problems with that, tell him he knows where he can find me," Nate replied with a grin.

"All right. What do—" Before she could complete her sentence, the doorbell rang. She turned around and grasped the knob, pulling the door open. A delivery man stood there with a box and a silver clipboard in hand, his nametag reading Steven.

"Hi. Is there a Nate Thompson here by any chance?" the gentleman asked.

"She can sign for it! She's the new PA!" Nate yelled out, making Mitchie blush.

"Ohh, okay. Why am I not surprised?" Steven chuckled. "If you just take this box, I can show you where to sign."

"Sorry," Mitchie said before taking the box and setting it on a table behind her.

"Just sign here and here," Steven informed her, pointing to the proper lines with X's by them and offering her his pen. She took the pen and signed where he had indicated. "Thanks so much. And good luck, miss."

"Thank you," she replied as she waved at his retreating back. She shut the door before picking up the box and taking it to Nate. "Here, this just came for you."

"Oh, it's yours," he corrected.

"What?"

"It's your new PDA. That way, you don't have to worry with a paper day timer or anything, it's all going to be right there in your hands the moment you schedule it."

"Wow. I just…..wow. Thank you so much. It means a lot," she said with a smile before getting a pair of scissors and opening the box, pulling out the contents.

"Don't worry about it. The way I see it, it'll help to make your life a bit easier," he told her with a smile in return.

"Good morning, Mitchie," Jason said quietly.

"Morning, Jason. You look tired," she remarked.

"To be honest with you, I'm not much of a morning person. I never have been, even when we were at Camp Rock."

"What? You two went to Camp Rock?" Mitchie asked, astounded at the news.

"Shane, too. That's where the three of us met and formed the band. We ended up winning Final Jam, and the big prize that year was a recording contract for the winner, and the rest, as they say, is history," he replied.

"Dude, how we got started and everything, it's not that old of a story yet," Nate said.

"Well, it isn't new," Jason retorted.

Mitchie giggled before looking up from the PDA. "Do you guys want some coffee?"

"Yes, please!" Jason practically begged.

"Sure," Nate replied.

"How do you both take it?"

"I'd like a decaf with two creams this morning," came from Jason's still sleep-filled voice.

"Decaf with one cream, two sugars. Everything to make it should be in the kitchen, Mitchie."

"Okay. Two coffees, coming right up!"

Less than ten minutes later, she returned with the coffees in her hands, made as they had specified. "Oh my gosh, you are amazing, Mitchie Torres!" Jason exclaimed happily as he sipped his coffee.

"I just made coffee," she told him, her cheeks flushing.

"Yes, but you also happen to make great coffee. While some of our other assistants have made coffee for us, they haven't done the greatest job in the world," Nate informed her.

Before Mitchie could reply, the front door opened and two people entered. "Morning!" a familiar voice called out.

"We're in here!" Jason called out with a knowing grin.

"Okay, why do I smell coffee and no one made me any?" Shane asked arrogantly as he came down the stairs, dressed in a pair of sleep pants and t-shirt, rubbing at his eyes.

"Because, Mr. Crankypants, you're the one who sleeps until all hours of the day. I tried waking you up one day before you wanted to be woken up, which was against my better judgment, so if you want coffee, you'll have to be up at a regular time like the rest of us," Caitlyn replied with a smirk as she and a friend of hers and Mitchie's entered the room, Starbucks in hand.

"Ella?! What are you doing here?" Mitchie asked, shock in her voice.

"Surprised to see me?"

"I think the word 'yes' comes to mind!" Mitchie nearly squealed.

"Jason and I have been dating for awhile now. I usually come over in the morning to see him," Ella replied with a smile, setting her coffee and bag down before hugging her friend.

"Wow! It's great to see you!" Mitchie said, as she returned the hug.

"This is for you, by the way," Caitlyn cut in, holding out a coffee cup. "Made just the way you like it. I had a feeling you'd have forgotten to get some before coming here."

"What do you mean?" Ella asked.

"Oh, sorry. Nate hired me yesterday to be Connect 3's new PA after Shane fired Leslie," Mitchie informed her friend.

Ella rounded on Shane. "You fired her!? What for?"

"She didn't make my coffee right. Now, if the three of you are done with your little powwow, can I get some coffee?" he said.

"I don't know. Can you?" Caitlyn queried.

"Bite me, Gellar."

"NO thank you."

Mitchie sighed before rolling her eyes. "How do you take yours?"

"Black, two sugars and one cream," he replied with a smirk.

"I'll be back with it in just a few minutes," she shot back at him, striding into the kitchen. She quickly emptied out the coffeepot and began to make a new batch of coffee, breathing in the lovely smell as it filled the kitchen. She grabbed a Styrofoam cup and a plastic lid, along with two packets of sugar and one of cream, before turning off the coffeemaker. She pulled the pitcher out and poured the coffee before mixing in the sugars and cream, placing the lid on top and snapping it on. She returned to the living room to find Shane sitting in an armchair with Ella and Caitlyn next to their boyfriends.

"Here you go," she said as she handed it to him. "Careful, it's hot."

"How hot is it?"

"I just made a new batch. Nate and Jason both wanted decaf this….what's wrong?" she asked, noticing that he was staring at her as though she was crazy.

"I don't drink right out of the coffeemaker coffee. You need to cool it down," he sighed helplessly, as though she should have known.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"No, I'm serious. Go cool it down," he ordered.

"What are you gonna do about it if I don't?" she retorted, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Either you cool the coffee down, or you lose your job," he threatened, placing the coffee on the table in front of him and standing up so he was taller than her.

"Mr. Gray, I am not your maid. If you want your coffee to not be as hot as it is, then I suggest you either somehow find a way to cool your coffee down, make it yourself so it's just the temperature that you want, or drink it once you feel it's fine," she replied coolly, turning around to head up the stairs.

"Ms. Torres, get back here right now or you might as well pack up your things and leave for good," he told her arrogantly, making her shake her head and walk slowly up to face him again.

"See, if I was anyone else, that would be scary, so that was a good try, but you're not going to get anywhere. I knew when I started that this job wouldn't be easy, and when Nate hired me, he and Jason told me that the only way I would lose my job was if I quit, seeing as you had fired at least forty personal assistants before me. And considering that I don't intend to quit, then I suggest that you had better get used to me being around, _Shane_," she ground out before turning on her heel and marching up the stairs.

It was so silent, if one had dropped a pin, the noise from it would have been extremely loud. Instead, the four people sitting on the couches behind him burst out into laughter. "Wow! Now that….that was priceless! And I don't have my camera on me today! Darn," Caitlyn said mockingly, snapping her fingers.

"Is she always like that?" Ella asked.

"Only with Shane when he gets to being an asshole, then yep," Caitlyn told her with a grin.

"You know, yesterday was amusing, but two smack downs in less than three days? He is so seriously working up a record there, dude!" Jason replied gleefully.

"Okay, could all of you please quit talking about me like I'm not in the room? And what the hell did she mean, you two, when she said that the only way she would lose her job was if she was to quit?" Shane demanded to know.

Nate smirked knowingly. "Jason and I pretty much told her that the only way she's going to lose her job is if she quits. You can't fire her, and after that, neither of us really want to either."

"So you mean that I'm…."

"Stuck with her until she decides to quit or until her internship is over with? Yep, pretty much, although I may consider hiring her even after she's finished her internship," Nate replied with an evil grin.

"You wouldn't!" Shane said with wide eyes.

"Why wouldn't we? The only person here who has a problem with her is you. Just get used to it already," Jason replied with a roll of his eyes.

'_Like hell I will,'_ Shane thought to himself with a growl. The day he got used to her would be never. She had already humiliated him twice and there was absolutely nothing that he could do about it. He couldn't fire her and anytime he tried to make her do exactly what he wanted only resulted in him being embarrassed. He knew that she'd be around constantly, and the only time that she wouldn't be was when she was out taking care of things. _'Unless I keep her so busy that she doesn't have time to come back here to the house,'_ Shane thought to himself before heading up the stairs, hearing someone in one of the spare rooms playing a piano that they had in there. Rather than stopping to see who was playing, he continued on, not knowing or caring who it was and went to his room to change and shower for the day.

Downstairs, Nate just shook his head at his friend's behavior, knowing that it was just Shane having an attitude and not liking having been embarrassed by someone that he'd only met the day before.

A moment later, the sound of someone playing a piano reached his ears, making him curious. He knew Shane didn't play the piano too much, and he surely wouldn't be right then, Caitlyn and Ella were both down here with himself and Jason, which only left one person: Mitchie. He made sure that Caitlyn was occupied talking to his friends before heading lithely up the stairs, standing outside the door to one of the spare bedrooms that had great acoustics to it. He personally loved playing the piano as an outlet for whenever he was stressed or restless, which was why he'd had one put in the room.

He paused outside the door, listening to each of the keys as they were pressed before a voice began singing, one of the best he'd heard in a long while.

_I've always been the kind of girl  
That hid my face  
So afraid to tell the world  
What I've got to say  
But I have this dream  
Right inside of me  
I'm gonna let it show  
It's time to let you know  
to let you know_

Nate's jaw was hanging open as he listened to Mitchie sing. He knew from her profile that she loved to sing, but didn't know that she was _this_ good, nor did he know that she could play the piano as well as she was. He entered the room quietly, standing behind her as she played, before clearing his throat to announce his presence.

She jumped at the sound of someone clearing their throat, having been off in her own world and her heart pounding rapidly. "Oh! I'm so sorry! I just came up the stairs and the door was open and….."

"Mitchie, it's okay. I don't mind, really," he said, trying to calm her down.

"Are you sure? I'm really sorry," she apologized profusely.

"It's fine. I don't get to play it nearly as much as I'd like to, so feel free to play it whenever you have any spare time, okay?"

She snorted disbelievingly. "Why do I get the feeling that that won't ever happen with Shane around?"

"Ah, he'll be fine. He's used to getting whatever he wants, and you've told him no in some form or another twice already, so he's just sulky. If he gets to be too bad, I want you to let me know, all right?" he asked.

"It depends, so we'll have to see," she said with a smile. "Did you guys have any plans for today?"

"We have to go into the studio and record a song, which won't be much fun as it's going to take awhile and Shane's going to want to argue about changing our sound. Then Jason, Shane and I have to go to the House of Blues in L.A. tonight and do a concert. Oh, which reminds me," he cut himself off in midsentence. "Come with me, and you'll need your PDA."

She stood up and grabbed the PDA that was next to her and followed him into his office. She took a seat on the other side of the desk, watching as he bustled about the room, muttering to himself until he sat down across from her. "All right. Here's everything you need to put into your PDA that Leslie had in hers. It should cover you for the rest of this month and the beginning of next. You'll also have to answer e-mails and phone calls about events, parties, calls from charities, so on and so forth. Sound good?"

She took the small stack of papers from him and nodded. "Yep. I'm good to go. When do you three head out of here?"

"In awhile, actually. The label wants us to be there by eleven thirty, which means we have to leave no later than a quarter till eleven to be there early," he said with a sigh.

"Are the three of you traveling in one of your own cars, or is someone going to be driving you?"

"No, we have a driver named Matt. He knows that we have to get going soon, so he should be here any minute now," Nate said, glancing at his watch.

"Okay. Is there anything else that you need me to do?" she asked.

"Yes, actually. Can you go to the club tonight and just doublecheck the guest list, take care of any odds and ends?"

"Sure, no problem," she complied.

"Oh, and I want you to be there tonight at the concert," he added.

"But I don't have anything to wear," she replied with her mouth open slightly in shock, not having expected an invitation.

"Go ahead, buy something and have the place that you buy it at charge it to this credit card," he said as he handed her a credit card. "You have my cell phone number in that stack of papers in case they don't believe your story."

"A-are you sure? I would feel like I'm taking advantage of you and being rude," she stammered.

"Mitchie, the only way you could be rude would be to not take it. I mean it, I want you to take it," he insisted as she slowly took the card from him. "And don't even try to say that you're going to pay me or the label back for it. It's fine."

"Thank you," she said softly.

"You're welcome. Oh, and before I forget, feel free to bring a friend with you. Cait and Ella are gonna be there tonight as well. Now, I have to go and bug my two friends and get them ready to leave," he said with a sigh as he left the room.

"Good luck!" she called out. She gazed at the credit card in her hand before shaking her head to clear it of its thoughts. She quickly found her purse and put it in one of the side pockets, making sure to close the snap.

* * *

Mitchie sighed to herself as she stood in the midst of the throng of people that were already inside the House of Blues, waiting for Connect 3 to perform. The concert hall was standing room only, and the room was filled from wall to wall with bodies. She gently pushed her way through the crowd to get to the side door that was marked 'Authorized Personnel Only'. She held up her pass that was in her jacket pocket so the bouncer inside could see it, breathing a sigh of relief when he waved her on. She made her way down the narrow hallway to the dressing room, twisting the knob and pushing.

"You guys really have to hurry. It's nearly eight and that's when you three are scheduled to go on," she informed the two males who occupied the room, Jason and Nate sitting in armchairs.

"Well, we're ready to go, but his highness is apparently having a hard time getting his hair to be just oh-so-perfect," Jason grumbled, making Mitchie sigh.

"All right, then you two get out there and get on the stage. He'll be out there in a minute."

"But who's going to keep you two from killing each other?" Nate chuckled with a grin.

"I will. Now go!" she admonished, opening the door and motioning them out.

"Yes, ma'am," the duo chorused as they traipsed out. She shut the door behind them and took a deep breath before crossing to the door on the other side of the room. Without even asking for entrance, she just opened the door.

"It's nearly eight o'clock, which means you're supposed to be on stage right now, and you're in here fussing over your hair?" was the first thing she said.

"You know, in some cultures, they consider it polite to go ahead and knock to make sure it's okay to come in before just barging into a room. I could have been naked for all you knew," Shane snapped as he carefully held a straightener to a piece of his hair.

"Yes, and there are also cultures where there are people that are far worse off than you. They don't get to fuss over their hair for hours, so what might your point actually be? At this point, I just care about making sure that you are on that stage on time," she retorted with a slight blush to her cheeks before striding over to him and snatching the straightener out of his hands.

"Hey! Give me that!"

"You're going to want to stand still, unless you want me to burn you," she warned before pressing the release button on the apparatus. She quickly grabbed another piece of his hair and worked on that for a few seconds before moving on. In less than three minutes, she had finished straightening his hair entirely and had sprayed it with hair spray.

"There you go, Mr. Pop Star. All done. Now can you please get your butt out there and on stage?" she asked through gritted teeth.

"Rock Star," he corrected her as he looked at his hair, noting that it was done practically to perfection. "How on earth did you do that so fast?"

"Years of practice. You need to get going, now."

"All right already! God only knows how, but you manage to wind up the PA for the band, you humiliate me twice in less than 24 hours in front of my friends, then you come barging in here without an invitation! Not to mention, you're just wanting to shove me out the door and here I was, honestly considering thanking you, but forget about it now!" he snapped sarcastically.

"Mr. Gray, I'm your personal assistant, so I had unspoken permission to come in here. It is my job to make sure that you are on time for concerts and events and that you are there for every single one that you and your band mates decide to go to. When I came in here, you were nowhere near being done, so I took over. If that's a problem with you, then I apologize, but you had less than ten minutes to be on stage and I was not going to let you be late. That would reflect badly not only on myself, but you, Nate, Jason and the label as well, and I don't think that any of us would have appreciated that. Now, if you don't wish for me to have to come and take over the job of making sure that your hair is done, then next time you may want to actually start getting ready in the dressing room instead of taking a nap," she replied smoothly as she opened the door to the hall.

"Well, why would I worry about doing it myself when I have you to do it for me?" he retorted with a smirk as he followed her.

"If that's the case, then you can hire a hairdresser to do your hair for you."

"See, I tried that already. The first one was completely horrible, the second screwed my hair up so badly that it took forever to come back from it, and the third didn't listen at all. Everyone after that was either too star-struck to actually accomplish anything or they were completely incapable. Besides, it didn't take you that long to do. You've had years of practice, remember?" he replied, echoing her words from earlier.

"I seriously doubt that I'm going to have time to do your hair all the time, but if you say so," she said with a roll of her eyes. "Look, go through this door and you'll see Jason and Nate already on stage. Break a leg!" she stated as she held the door open for him, making him smirk triumphantly and walk toward his bandmates. She heaved a sigh and headed toward the main room, getting there just in time to hear them being announced and the curtain go up, a throng of screams greeting her ears.

She eventually found her way over to the entrance, where she found the young man that she'd brought as her guest for the night. She greeted him happily with a hug and a kiss, talking to him for a few moments before turning back to the stage.

"What took you so long?" she yelled over the torrent of screams as Connect 3 performed on the stage.

"Traffic was horrible, not to mention my boss kept me for about an extra hour. Sorry, doll," he replied.

"It's all right. Let's just enjoy the concert," she said with a grin, making him nod in return and put his arms around her waist from behind.

Thankfully, the concert went by with no accidents of any sort. Every note was sung flawlessly, every chord hit just right. Mitchie grinned happily and said a silent prayer of thanks to no one in particular that nothing bad had happened. As they began to play their last song of the evening, one of her favorites, she pulled away from her boyfriend's grasp to talk to him. "Hey, come with me. I want you to meet the guys."

"What do you mean?"

"I told you, Todd, I work for Connect 3, remember? I'm their new PA," Mitchie yelled over the din.

"I'm sorry. I completely forgot," he apologized.

"It's okay, come on!"

She grabbed his hand and pulled him through the mass of bodies that were dancing and singing along with the band onstage. They managed to reach the bar without anyone crashing into them and got a small table.

"Hi, can I get three bottled waters, one Coke and one Sprite, both with light ice?" she asked the bartender after leaving Todd to watch over their table.

"You got it, sweetheart," he replied with a nod. A moment later, he placed three cold bottles of water on the bar along with the Sprite and Coke.

"Thanks," she said as she handed him the proper amount of money for the drinks before going back to the table. "Here's your drink, baby," she told him as she handed him the Sprite.

"Thanks, but why didn't you get me something alcoholic? I took a cab to get here so I could drink if I wanted to," he informed her.

"If you want something different, then go get it yourself. Forgive me for being nice," she snapped.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, surprised at her behavior.

"I'm sorry, I'm just—" she trailed off with a sigh but never finished her response as she saw three slightly sweaty gentlemen make their way over to her and Todd, along with Caitlyn and Ella.

"Hey, you guys! Where were you two?" Mitchie inquired.

"Oh, we were pressed into a corner, trying to ignore the insane fangirls that like to mob our boyfriends and their best friend." Caitlyn retorted with a smirk.

Mitchie grinned and rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm glad to see that all of you are okay. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry. Todd, this is Jason Black, Nate Thompson, and Shane Gray, the three members of Connect 3," she introduced, indicating each of them. "Guys, this is my boyfriend, Todd Matteson."

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Nate said as he held out his hand for Todd to shake. After a moment of reluctance, Todd shook his hand before shaking Jason's.

"Same here. So you're the infamous Shane Gray," Todd stated as he met Shane's eyes.

"Yeah. Can't say as I've heard much about you from our PA here," he quipped coolly.

"Mmm, looks like we're in the same boat then. You know, it's funny. I ended up running into a girl that you were caught on camera with, but she said she hadn't heard from you since then."

"What's your point?" Shane asked, trying to curb his desire to punch this guy who had no business prying into his personal life.

"Just that if I had bedded a girl, I would have taken more care of her than you did," Todd said nonchalantly.

"Todd!" Mitchie admonished with red cheeks.

"What?"

"I need to talk to you in private. Let's go and dance," she demanded through gritted teeth as she pulled him out onto the main floor.

The group of five watched as Mitchie pulled Todd forcefully out onto the dance floor. "You know, I really don't like that guy. Can I hit him?" Shane growled.

"Back up there, buddy. As much fun as that might be, aren't you the one trying to get on the good side of the label so we can see about changing our sound?" Jason said quietly, moving to stand in front of his friend. "Think about that, and then think about what punching him would do."

Shane's shoulders fell as he realized that Jason was right. "You know, I really hate it when you're right."

"You do?"

Shane rolled his eyes and laughed. "Never mind."

"Don't worry. You're not the only person who doesn't like him," Caitlyn supplied after watching what happened between the pair.

"What do you mean?" Nate asked.

"Well, Mitchie had me meet him several months ago, shortly after they started dating. I didn't really care for him then, but I decided to let her make her own choices, and I still don't care for him."

"Why's that?" Shane replied.

"Because I just have this weird feeling about him. I can't shake it, either, but I'm not sure what it is," she told Shane as she looked past him to see Todd looking her up and down before quickly looking away. "Come on, let's go dance," she said to Nate with shiver as she grabbed his hand and pulled him away.

"Bye," Ella waved after them. She went to turn back to the table but felt like someone was staring at her. She shrugged her shoulders before turning to her boyfriend. "I'm gonna go grab a drink. Want anything?"

"Nah, I'm good. Thanks, though," he told her before she walked off. "Think something's up with Cait?"

"What do you mean?" Shane queried confusedly.

"I mean, she looked creeped out by something or someone."

"I'm sure if something was wrong, she'd tell Nate and have him play the hero," Shane replied with annoyance.

"Whatever. Can you tell Ella that I went to go and ask Mitchie to dance?" Jason requested, moving away only when his friend waved him off.

"Mind if I cut in?" Jason asked a few seconds later as he walked up to the new PA and her boyfriend.

"Is that okay with you, Todd?" Mitchie looked at him for permission.

"Yeah, sure. No problem. I'll be over by the bar if you need me, babe," he replied as he kissed her lightly on the lips before walking away, making her blush and Jason scratch his neck embarrassedly. Jason waited until Todd was several feet away before taking Mitchie's hands in his.

"You did a great job tonight," she said after a few moments of dancing.

"Thanks. I'm glad you were able to be here to see it."

"Me, too. I'll have to remember to thank Nate for asking me and a friend to come," she said.

"I'm sure he knows. You look great, by the way," Jason complimented, nodding his head at her midnight blue blouse that dipped slightly, black knee-length skirt, and high heels.

"Thank you. Another reason for me to thank Nate," she replied with a blush.

"Are you having a good time so far?"

"Other than what happened earlier with Shane, yeah. I can't wait to get back to our apartment so I can chew Todd out, though," she said through gritted teeth.

"Don't give him too hard of a time."

"Eh, he'll be fine," Mitchie smiled.

Jason laughed. "If you say so. Just remind me to never piss you off so that way, I don't have to worry about you killing me, okay?"

"Jason, I doubt that you could ever piss me off, unless you were actually trying," she said with a giggle.

"Finally, a laugh. I was wondering if you were going to do that anytime soon," he replied.

"Thank you. I feel a little bit better now."

"That's great to hear. Wanna go see if we can find everyone?"

"Sure, let's go."

He offered her a bent elbow, which she laughed and took with a shake of her head. They walked over to the table that Mitchie and Todd had gotten earlier, where Ella, Shane, Nate, and Caitlyn were talking. "Hey, you guys," Mitchie greeted.

"Hey. Did you have a good time?" Caitlyn asked.

"I did, but then I remembered that Ella would probably want her boyfriend back. He's all yours."

"Thanks. Can we go and dance now?" Ella asked as a song with a bit of a slow tempo came on, grinning as she saw Nate gently lead Caitlyn to dance.

"Here we go again," he teased as he led her out onto the dance floor. He pulled her into his arms and held her closely. "Are you having a good time tonight?"

"Mmmhmm. What about you?"

"No complaints so far. The only other thing that I can think of that I'd really rather have been doing would have been to make a birdhouse, but other than that, I'm happy right where I am and who I'm with," he smiled.

"That's good to hear," she replied. She lifted her head slightly and opened her eyes, noticing that Todd was staring at her as he stood next to the bar. He looked down into his drink before taking a sip, making her shake her head internally. She danced with Jason throughout the rest of the song, trying to force herself to believe that he hadn't been staring at her. She noticed that her boyfriend was moving a bit slower than normal. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just a bit tired."

"Let's go and sit down," she suggested as she led him back to the table where Caitlyn was in a heated discussion with Mitchie.

"I'm telling you, he's been staring at me, like all evening!" Caitlyn said indignantly.

"What's wrong?" Ella asked.

"Caitlyn thinks that Mitchie's oh-so-great boyfriend has been staring at her all evening, Mitchie says he isn't, but I know I saw him looking at both Caitlyn and you, Ella," Shane summed up simply.

"He wouldn't do that," Mitchie replied.

"No? Then why did Shane, of all people, catch him staring at me _and_ Ella?" Caitlyn questioned.

"Was he staring at you?" Jason asked as he moved to look at Ella. She bit her lip and looked at Mitchie before looking back at him.

"He was. I caught him staring at me a few times while you and I were dancing. I tried brushing it off like it was nothing, saying it was just coincidence."

"Maybe we should just ask Todd before we jump to any conclusions, okay?" Nate suggested. Everyone in the group nodded or voiced their agreement. "Mitchie, can you go get him and have him come over here?"

"Sure. Even though I know he wouldn't do anything like that, sure," she replied reluctantly. She turned in the direction of the bar and walked off, returning a moment later with the gentleman in question.

"Hey, everyone. What's up?" Todd greeted.

"Todd, we need to talk to you about something. Caitlyn and Ella……they think…." Nate trailed off, not sure how to say what he wanted.

"Why the hell have you been staring at me and my friend Ella all night, you perv?" Caitlyn spat.

"Caitlyn!" Mitchie said in shock.

"What? Unless he's blind, which he sure doesn't look like he is, then he can see that both Ella and I are taken," Caitlyn replied coolly.

"Is she telling the truth? Have you been staring at Ella all night?" Jason asked calmly as he stepped forward, Nate moving with him.

"Listen, guys, I don't know what—"

"Just answer the question, Todd. Were you or weren't you staring at them like they were pieces of meat?" Shane asked triumphantly.

"Like you're any better," Todd retorted.

"Whether I'm better than you or not isn't currently in question. Besides that, I know better than to stare at my best friends' girlfriends. So we'll try this again, and you can lie if you want, but I know differently: were you staring at Caitlyn and Ella?"

"I don't see how this is any of your business, Gray."

"You _were_ staring at them," Mitchie answered for him, coming to the conclusion herself.

"No, I wasn't! I can't believe you'd even think that!" he shouted.

"I didn't want to, but it's kinda hard not to when you pretty much refused to answer the question," Mitchie snarled before turning her back on him and starting to walk away.

"You can't tell me that you believe them over me?" Todd scoffed as he grabbed her wrist.

"Right now, yes, I do. And you'd better do yourself a favor and let go of me," she said loud enough for everyone to hear her, making him sigh and do what she told him.

"Doll, it didn't mean anything. I just saw them both. Not like I was planning on cheating on you," he insisted.

"Just shut up and leave me alone. I'll talk to you when I feel like I can do that without wanting to hurt you," she said coolly.

"Mitchie—"

"I'd do what she said if I were you," Jason growled. "Right now, I'm not feeling too friendly toward you at the moment, either. I don't think any of my friends are, actually, so you may want to just get out of our sight and leave her alone before any of us decide to cause you bodily harm."

Todd looked like he was about to resist again, before shrugging and walking off. Mitchie dropped down onto a nearby stool and sighed, her head in her hands. "You okay?" Caitlyn asked.

"You and Ella were the ones that he was staring at all night, I should be asking you that. God, I'm such a horrible friend," Mitchie said.

"Nah, you're not horrible, you just wanted to stick up for your man. Besides, guys stare at me all the time and it makes Nate insanely jealous and possessive, which hey, total turn on," Caitlyn replied with an evil grin.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Mitchie retorted with a smirk, making Caitlyn shake her head.

"You two okay? I honestly thought that you were going to hit him Mitchie, which if you had, I can't say that I would have blamed you. I mean, I wanted—"

"We're fine, Ella. Thanks for asking," Mitchie interrupted her friend in mid-ramble. She got down from the stool to give her friend a hug. "I think I'm gonna head out for the night. I'm wiped."

"Okay. Are you heading back to your apartment?" Nate asked as he, Shane and Nate came closer.

"No, I'm gonna stay at a hotel for the night. I'll just swing by there to get some stuff for tonight and tomorrow."

"You don't have to do that. You can just stay at the house, we've got plenty of room," Jason suggested.

Mitchie smiled gratefully. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll be fine for tonight. I just need to be alone and I don't really want to stay at the apartment."

"You sure? It's no big deal if you stay at the house, really," Nate said, backing up Jason.

"Yeah. I'll be okay. Thank you again, though. For everything. I owe you one," she replied.

"I told you, you don't owe me anything. Just be at the house tomorrow for work and we'll be even."

"Okay, I'll be there. And I will see all of you tomorrow," she said as she hugged Caitlyn, Ella, and Jason, before shaking Nate's hand and getting to Shane. She licked her lips uncertainly and shifted on her feet a bit, unsure of what to do.

"Thanks....for...." she trailed off, making him smirk and nod.

"Get out of here. I'll see you tomorrow morning, and don't forget my coffee," he warned.

"Jerk!" she replied before shaking her head and walking away, not feeling his eyes on her backside the entire time.

* * *

Feedback/reviews are, as always, muchly appreciated! Thanks!


	3. Actions and Consequences

Title- Assisting the Heart

Disclaimer- I don't own CR or any of the characters. Well, except for the ones that I've made, those are all mine.

A/N- Okay. To all those of you who read this story between the last time I updated and now, I apologize for it having been so long of a wait. Things have gotten sorta nuts in my life, as well as the fact that I fell in love with other fandoms, and therefore, my muse was firmly attached to them. In any case, I've had this chapter done for quite awhile now and decided that it was nigh past time that it was posted. For all those of you who are new to this story, I hope that you enjoy it.

* * *

The next month passed by with relative ease. Mitchie began to get used to the boys' hectic schedules and performances every other night. The day after what had happened at the House of Blues, Mitchie returned back to the apartment that she and Todd shared only to find a bouquet of her favorite flowers and a note asking for forgiveness. It took awhile, but she did eventually forgive Todd for his behavior that night. As for Shane, Jason, and Nate, she knew that none of them much cared for her boyfriend, all things considered. He tried to avoid them and they him, as much as possible, except for one night when he came by to pick her up and they had a night off. The doorbell rang, causing Mitchie to jump up to answer it.

"Todd! What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.

"Here to pick you up from work, doll. It's almost time for you to get off, isn't it?"

She nodded. "Yeah, it is, actually. Come on in."

"I don't think that that's a good idea," he said, causing her to roll her eyes in annoyance.

"Just come inside already. The guys are here at the house because they have a night off, but they're not evil or crazy or anything. They're not going to attack you or try to kill you," she assured him.

"Speak for yourself," Shane muttered as he came down the stairs dressed in a black shirt, pants, and shoes, along with a gold tie and white jacket.

"Where are you headed?" Mitchie asked.

"We, as in Jason, Nate, Ella, Caitlyn and myself, are going out to a club in L.A. to just hang out and dance. Is that okay?" he answered in a condescending tone.

She rolled her eyes. "I could care less what you do with your time off. Just behave and don't do anything stupid, all right?"

"Shane not do something stupid? That's asking a lot," Caitlyn quipped as she came downstairs in a short black dress and open toed heels. "You might want to quit staring, Todd. I don't think that everyone quite saw you doing it."

"No, thanks. Not interested," he retorted.

"That's good to hear," Nate replied as he came down with Ella and Jason behind him, all three dressed up for a night out. "Mitchie, do you want to come with us?"

"Thank you for inviting me, but I can't. Todd came here to pick me up so we could hang out tonight. Sorry, but maybe some other time?" she promised.

"Next time, then. Be careful," he told her before giving a small hug. Jason was right behind him and gave her a long hug that she gladly returned.

"Take care of everyone for me?" Mitchie asked him.

"No problem."

She hugged Ella and Caitlyn after that, seeing that Shane had left already. "Okay, let me just get my stuff and then I'll be ready to go. Give me just a few minutes, all right?"

"Yeah, sure. I'll be waiting."

A few minutes later, she returned with her work bag, PDA, and purse. "Let's go," she prompted as she walked to the front door, opening it for him. She followed him out before locking it behind her and going to her car. "Where are we going?"

"Back to the apartment. What do you think of ordering in and renting a movie?"

"Sounds great," she replied, getting in her car and following as he drove in front of her.

* * *

"Did you like the movie?" he asked as he climbed into bed, waiting as she got changed.

"Yeah, it was good, and so was dinner. Thank you," she said as slipped out of her work suit and hung it on the hanger before placing the clothing in a chair to go to the dry cleaners.

"You're welcome," he replied as he watched her get dressed into a pair of sweats and a tank top. She slipped under the covers next to him, giving him a kiss after doing so. He obligingly returned it before pulling away with a sigh.

"What's wrong?" she queried.

"I need to ask you something, and I hope you won't get mad at me."

"Okay. What is it?"

"Well, it's….it's just that you've been spending a lot of time over at the Connect 3 house. You usually don't get home until pretty late and then you leave early in the morning. I just…" he trailed off.

"What are you saying, that you think I'm cheating on you?" she accused as she sat up. When he didn't reply, her eyes narrowed in anger as she realized that that was what he thought was going on. "You do think I'm cheating on you with one of them! Oh, my god! I can't believe you, Todd!"

"See, I knew you would get mad! This is why I was so hesitant to say anything," he retorted.

"Of course I'm mad! You're making me out to sound like some kind of a slut or something. I didn't sleep with any of them to get this job, and I'm not sleeping with any of them now. In case you've forgotten, Nate and Jason are both taken, and they're like big brothers to me. They're dating Ella and Caitlyn, two of my best friends that you decided to openly ogle awhile back? And as for Shane, well, he and I don't get along the greatest. I won't say that we hate each other, but we barely tolerate each other as it is. So no, I'm not sleeping with any of them, and the fact that you would even think that pisses me off!" she snapped.

"I'm sorry, doll, I just had to ask. I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"There shouldn't have even been a question about it!" she growled before laying down and turning over so her back was to him. "Just shut up, don't say another word to me. Good night." Her silence after that told him that he'd messed up big time and that she was furious with him. He sighed and rolled over before falling into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

The next morning, her alarm went off at 6:30 a.m., just like she'd set it to do. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and got up to turn it off. She took her time taking a shower and getting ready to go to work but she knew that if she wanted to avoid Todd, she had to get out of the house before he was to wake up at 8:15. She showered, dressed, brushed her teeth, had blown her hair dry and straightened it, and put on a little bit of makeup just as her watch read eight a.m. She grabbed her things and her suit jacket before heading out the door.

She stopped at the Starbucks nearest to the boys' house on the way to grab coffee and croissants for herself and the trio that she worked for. She carefully made her way back to her car so she didn't spill anything, thankful that the attendant had given her a tray for the coffees. She got in her car and made sure that they wouldn't fall over or be jostled before heading to the house. Security waved her through immediately when she got there, and

she grabbed her things and the food and drinks before heading to the front door. She somehow managed to unlock the door and get inside without dropping anything. She set down the coffees and croissants in the kitchen before seeing that it was a quarter till 9, making her arrival an early one. She noticed that she hadn't been greeted by voices in the living room, as was normal. A frown made its' way on her face before she headed into the living room, only to find Jason sprawled out on the couch. Mitchie smiled and shook her head as she saw that he was still in his clothes from the previous night. She walked over to him and gently shook his shoulder, making him stir.

"Jason. Hey, wake up," Mitchie said softly.

Her friend groaned quietly and sighed in his sleep, his eyes opening long enough to see who it was before closing them again. "Hi, Mitchie. Morning. Can I go back to sleep now?"

"In just a second. What are you doing out here?"

"We got back late last night, and I wasn't going to make Ella go back to her place when it was so late anyhow, so I let her stay here in my room. I came down here to do something, and then before I knew it, I had passed out," he said with a yawn.

Mitchie giggled. "You fell asleep in your clothes from last night, too. You sure everything's okay?"

"Yep. I'm just still tired. Oh, there's something that you might want to know," he warned.

"Why do I get the feeling that I'm not going to like this?"

"You probably won't. While we were out, Shane hooked up with this girl and brought her back here to the house. I'm pretty sure that she stayed the night, judging from the noises I was hearing from one of the guest rooms," Jason informed her with a grimace.

Mitchie wrinkled her nose. "Thanks for the heads-up. You may want to go up to your room and get changed before you go back to sleep," she suggested softly.

Before he could reply, Shane came down the stairs dressed only in a pair of boxers. Every time she'd seen him until now, he'd always had a shirt of some sort on and had been fully clothed, making her completely unprepared to see him like this. She'd guessed that he was built well just from looking at him, but any expectations that she'd had were blown out of the water. It was almost as though someone had carved him from some sort of stone and then made him into human form. His lightly tanned shoulders weren't overly broad, just enough to be noticed, which lead to a lean body that made her realize he worked out to look like he did. _'Conceited jerk that he is, he probably does it just to attract attention.'_ To her, he was perfectly good eye candy, which she quickly reminded herself that she had no business staring at. He was not only one of the three people that she was working for, but she also had a boyfriend. She gave her head a quick shake, her cheeks flushed and making him smirk.

"See something you like, Ms. Torres?" he asked arrogantly with a touch of teasing.

"You couldn't have thrown some clothes on before coming down here?" she said with a sigh.

"Well, I could have, but then I remembered that this is my house and where I live, so I just decided to not care, and oddly enough, it seems like you do. I'm guessing that you must see something you like," he replied with a smirk.

"Maybe if you weren't my boss, if your head wasn't as big as it is, and you weren't such a jerk all the time, then maybe. How can I help you, Mr. Gray?" she asked sweetly, making Jason snicker at her response.

Shane closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "There's a girl upstairs in one of the guest rooms. I need you to see to it that her clothes are cleaned and that Matt takes her back to wherever she lives," he said, as though it was something he did every day.

"Excuse me?" she asked.

"You heard me. I don't recall any stuttering in what I just said," he snapped. "Did you pick up or make any coffee yet?"

"Yes, I did. It's in the kitchen, along with some croissants," she started, making him begin to make his way there. She quickly moved in front of him and put her hands up in front of herself, not expecting them to make contact with his bare chest. He stopped and looked down at her hands before looking at her with a renewed smirk on his face and a lifted eyebrow. She blushed slightly and moved her hands off of his chest. "Sorry, but I wasn't finished yet."

"What now?" he griped.

"Jason told me that you hooked up with someone and brought her back here, and you just confirmed it for me. Now, while what you did is none of my business, it is nowhere in my job description that I should have to take care of getting the girl that you had sex with out the door. I don't care who you sleep with, but showing them out the door is not my job, that's yours."

"Excuse me?" he replied in astonishment.

"You heard me. You can take your own trash out and show her to the road, because that is not my job. Once you've done that, then you can have your coffee," she said tightly before turning on her heel and marching back into the kitchen, passing by him a second later with four coffees and a plate of croissants in her possession.

Shane watched her with wide eyes and a slack jaw, a very large part of him wanting to pull her back to where he was standing so he could yell at her. He already knew that he couldn't fire her, because if he could, he'd have fired her the first time that she'd humiliated him, and so far, this was the third time that she had. _'No one humiliates me and gets away with it,'_ he thought with a snarl. Even so, he knew that he still had a problem upstairs to take care of, and he knew that there would be hell to pay before and after.

* * *

A few days subsequent to when she'd made Shane take care of sending the girl that he'd slept with home, noticing when he strode back inside and slammed the front door shut that he had a handprint on his face, she made it to the house just in time. She let herself in as normal, set her purse and bag near the door, thankful that she hadn't dropped the coffees in her hands. She could hear voices coming from the living room, so she followed the sound of them, finding Shane, Nate and Jason half asleep and sitting on the couches.

"Morning!" she called out happily.

"_How_ can you be so cheery in the morning?" Jason groaned.

"Because it's either that or be grumpy, and since I'm pretty sure that you don't want to see me when I'm grumpy or cranky, I decided it was better to be a little happy. Coffee?" she asked as she held one out to him.

"Have I ever told you that I love it when you're cheerful in the morning?" Jason said with a sleepy smile as he took the proffered beverage.

"Yeah, you might, you suck up. Some of us are still trying to wake up over here," Shane snapped, stifling a yawn and watching as she handed Nate a coffee before coming over to him. "Can I have my coffee?"

"That depends. Are you gonna be nice and apologize to Jason for calling him a suck up?" she asked.

"You're joking, right?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?" she replied seriously, making his mouth drop open. He knew that if he wanted his coffee, he'd have to apologize, which was something he rarely did, if ever.

"You know, I could just go and get coffee myself," he said rudely.

"Yeah, you could, but why do that when you have some right here? Just tell him sorry and be done with it already," Nate snapped.

"Fine, s-sorry," he mumbled in a strained voice before turning to Mitchie. "Happy now?"

"Very. Here's your drink," she replied in a victorious tone as she handed him his hot beverage. He glared at her as he took it, not offering a thank you in way or form.

"So what's on our schedule for today?" Jason asked, ready for a different subject.

"Let's see," Mitchie responded as she left quickly before returning with her hand held schedule. "It looks like you three are mostly going to be stuck in the studio today. Your night is free because you could be recording for who knows how long. You guys have to get moving soon. Matt's going to be here to pick you up by ten at the latest," she informed them, looking up when they groaned. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I forgot that we were going to be mostly in the studio today. That's just gonna be so much fun," Nate said sarcastically with a wrinkled nose.

"What do you mean? I thought you three loved making music," she responded.

"We do. We just don't care for the sound that the label's had us singing since we started and we want to change it," Shane sighed with a grimace.

"Have you tried speaking to the label about it, maybe coming up with a demo of what you actually want to try playing?" she suggested.

"We talked to the label already. They said that we have to all be "on good behavior", whatever that means. I'm pretty sure that they're referring to Shane, though," Nate informed her.

"Gee, thanks," Shane retorted.

"You're welcome," Nate shot back.

"All right, fine. What about a demo?" she repeated.

"We haven't bothered. The label hasn't given us any indication that they'd like to see what we'd like for our sound to be, so we haven't put anything together."

"Okay. Since you don't know when they may tell you that they'll let you change your sound, you might want to put a demo together just so you have it, then work on changing the behavior. The best way to start is to be on time," she reminded them, all three letting out groans as they stood up. Nate and Jason headed up the stairs, but Shane stayed back, waiting until they were out of earshot.

"I need you to clean my car," he said simply.

"What?"

"I need you to clean my car," he repeated, speaking more slowly. "And I need it done before I get back from the studio."

"Why can't you do it yourself?" she huffed.

"Because I'm going to be working all day. Besides that, that's not something that I do, anyhow. Look, just get it done. I don't have any time to argue with you," he snapped before walking away from her.

She sighed and shook her head, deciding to do what he wanted as she knew he was right. He wouldn't have any time to clean his car, so she couldn't tell him to do it himself. She knew that he and his band mates were going to be very busy over the next several days, making her head up to the office to check e-mails and send replies out. She heard the three males bustling around, all trying to get ready before they had to leave. She heard the doorbell go off and Nate yell that he was answering it before he yelled for Jason and Shane. The door slammed behind them a moment later, making her sigh in relief. Before she could relax too much, her PDA ringtone went off, signaling that she had a text message.

_Don't forget to clean the inside, too. Let me know when you get done. –S_

She groaned and shook her head, wondering how she wasn't crazy. She looked down at her attire and wrinkled her nose, knowing that she'd have to grab a change of clothes or risk getting the ones that she had on wet. Quickly making a decision, she headed down the stairs in search of the items that she needed in order to accomplish her task.

* * *

Over the next week as the band was in the studio or attending events, Shane managed to keep her busy. Every day, he had something for her to do, and if it wasn't done just as he wanted it, then he messed it up and made her start all over again. While she knew she could have said something to Nate about it, she knew that he was busy, not to mention that she refused to let Shane win. She had a suspicion that he was doing all this to test her, and she was not going to stand back and let him win. Add in the fact that she also didn't want to let Nate or Jason down, and she was ready to lose it.

"Okay, I need you to drop off and pick up my dry cleaning, it's all upstairs. I also need my laundry cleaned, sorted and folded properly. Oh, and I'll also need you to make coffee runs for me and bring it to the studio. You do know how to get there right?"

"Yes, I do. And I just did your dry cleaning and laundry within the last week. You're telling me that you managed to wear that much clothes in that short a time?" she snapped.

"Yeah. I don't even know how it happened, but it did, so I need you to clean it and make sure that everything is put away," he replied smoothly, checking his hair in a mirror.

"It's fine, all right? Just get out of here," she told him through gritted teeth, making him roll his eyes and walk out the door, a sigh escaping her lips once she was finally alone. The worst part about him giving her all of these tasks was that she had only a little bit of time to answer phone calls, take care of e-mails and organize their schedule. She quickly went over everything that she had to do in her head, heading up the stairs to begin work for the day.

That night, once she made it back to her apartment at a late hour, she quickly got ready for bed and promptly passed out the moment her head hit the pillow. Around 1 in the morning, her PDA began vibrating. Shane had texted her, telling her what kind of coffee he wanted. A half hour after that, another text came, telling her that his clothes had been dry cleaned improperly. She was eventually forced to turn her phone off after she sporadically received 6 more messages in order to get some sleep for the day that she knew was coming. She knew he was testing her, and she'd hoped that he would let up, but it didn't seem like that would be possible.

She got up that morning before Todd, even though she'd overslept a little. She quickly got dressed and did her best to hide the circles that were under her eyes with makeup, a very small part of her tempted to not go in to work that day. _'You could do that, but then that would mean he would win,'_ a little voice told her, making her sigh. Rather than get back into bed like she wanted to, she went to the house but not before she stopped and picked up coffee for herself and the three guys that she worked for. No sooner had she walked in the door and put her things down, she received a text from Shane, reminding her about the list of things that he needed done, along with an extra chore of having to go shopping and telling her that a list had to be made. She rolled her shoulders and took a deep breath before heading into the kitchen, intending to make it through the day without losing her cool. She knew that she could tell Nate what was going on at any time, but she still refused. If he wasn't going to let up, neither was she.

She didn't know how, but she managed to make it through the day. Just as she had expected, he continued to text her all day, reminding her of the things she had to do or to tell her that he needed coffee, which happened every two to six hours like clockwork. Every time that she managed to finish a task and get ready to sit down and relax, she'd get another text, telling her that he needed this or that and making her come close to turning her phone off. He'd had her running all over town and by the end of the day, the only thing she wanted to do was just go home and crash in bed. Unfortunately, the moment she laid down, her PDA started going off again, making her shake her head and wishing that it would stop. She picked it up and turned the volume down as low as it could go, hitting the ignore button for the text. Thirty minutes later, she got three more text messages from Shane, all with reminders of things that he needed the next day. She sighed and didn't reply to any, deciding that she would talk to him when she went in to work, quickly turning it on silent and turning it over so if anything came in, she wouldn't see the light from it. She closed her eyes and willed her body to relax so she could get some sleep, seeing that it was just after 11 p.m. Just as she began to drift off, the noise of a baby crying traveled through the wall from the apartment next to theirs.

"This is so not what I need right now. Come on, little guy, please be quiet. Ms. Mitchie has to work for a guy that's really evil and mean," she pleaded to no one in particular, knowing that the infant couldn't hear her and even if he could, asking a crying baby to stop doing so was useless.

There was nothing she could do to stop it, but she knew she wasn't going to be able to get to sleep anytime soon. Mitchie tossed and turned in the bed for two hours, although she feigned sleep when she heard Todd come in after he'd gone out to be with some of his friends. He smelled of cigarettes and alcohol, and she could have sworn she smelled a woman's perfume or body spray. Instead of asking him why he smelled like that, she closed her eyes again and managed to fall asleep, noticing before she did so that the crying had stopped. Her dreams were plagued by memories of the confrontations that she'd shared with Shane, and nightmares of him asking her to do hundreds of tasks and complete them all in one day. She slept fitfully, the nightmares waking her up throughout the night and making it hard for her to fall asleep again.

The next morning, she opened her eyes blearily and stretched, glancing at her alarm clock. She gasped and sat up in shock, remembering that she'd forgotten to turn it on the night before and realizing that it was just after 8 and that she had less than an hour to get ready and be on time. She thanked her lucky stars that she had taken a shower the night before as she quickly grabbed a pair of slacks, a polo shirt and some sandals, throwing them on as fast as she could. She quickly brushed her hair and was very thankful that even though she'd been exhausted the previous night and still was, she had dried and brushed her hair before climbing into bed. "Which sounds like a very good idea right now," she mumbled to herself before shaking her head. She wasn't sick, and even though the idea of saying she couldn't come in sounded pleasing, she knew she couldn't lie and she'd feel like she was letting Jason and Nate down. She quickly brushed her teeth and tossed her makeup into her purse, deciding that she could put that on once she got to the Connect 3 house. She glanced at the clock and saw that she wouldn't have time to grab coffee; she'd have to make it once she got there. Her purse, workbag, and keys were retrieved, along with a casual jacket and her PDA. "You've got to be kidding me," she muttered to herself as she walked quickly to her car, seeing that she'd gotten fifteen more texts from Shane. Pursing her lips and steeling herself, she opened her car and got in, getting on the road as quickly as possible. To her surprise, she managed to make it to her destination just as it was 9 a.m., even after stopping to get clearance from security. She grabbed her things and entered the house, shutting the door behind her and locking it just as the device in her jacket pocket began to beep. Her purse and bag were placed on the table as they always were, the beeping finally stopping and causing her to breathe a sigh of relief. She entered the large kitchen and walked straight to the cupboard where the materials necessary for making coffee were, pulling out the sugar, some filters, and a container of coffee grounds. She managed to get the coffee started and the timer for it set when her PDA went off once more, chiming merrily and making her wish that it would spontaneously combust. "At least then it'd be awhile before the jerk could bother me," she muttered, picking it up to look at the text.

_Don't forget to cook some bagels this morning. And don't forget to cool my coffee down either._

She exhaled sharply, and rather than doing as the text had said, she placed the device on the counter and left it there, not caring if she received any more texts or calls for the moment. She knew she had to calm herself down before she snapped. Blinking back tears and taking a deep breath, she quickly made her way up the stairs and walked into one of the guest bathrooms, shutting the door behind her with a quiet snap and only then did she allow herself to succumb to her emotions.

Jason awoke to the smell of coffee and smiled sleepily as he stretched. Rubbing the fatigue from his eyes, he got out of bed and showered before straightening his hair and getting dressed for the day. He bounded down the stairs, expecting to see Mitchie sitting in the kitchen with a cup of coffee for him, but to his surprise, he only found a finished pot and her PDA, laying on the counter.

"Why is this in here? It's not like her to leave it lying around," he mused aloud. He picked it up and hit a button, making the text message reappear. He quickly read it and was confused, wondering why Shane was texting Mitchie about what to make for breakfast. He grabbed a mug and poured his coffee, making it as he desired. After a few minutes when Mitchie didn't come into the kitchen, Jason started to get worried. He got up from the table and began looking for her, starting with downstairs and working his way to the second floor. "She's not outside, or the garage, the studio, the living room; where is she?" he muttered. "There's only so many places she could be." He ascended the stairs and before he could get very far, he heard a sniffling from one of the bathrooms. Confused as to why she would be in there, he knocked on the door.

"I-I'm fine. I'll be out in a minute," came the shaky reply, making him frown.

"Mitchie? It's me, Jason. Can I come in?" he asked gently.

"Yeah, su-sure," she replied. He turned the knob and pushed on the door, walking into the bathroom. He quickly shut the door behind him before looking at her. "Are you okay?" He knew that she wasn't, but needed to ask. She was currently sitting on the floor of the bathroom, hugging her knees to her chest and looking as though she'd possibly been crying.

"Y-yeah, I'll be fine. I just need a few minutes, that's all," she told him, blinking multiple times.

"I saw the text from Shane on your phone. Is that why you're up here?" he inquired, getting down next to her.

"No!" she quickly denied. "Oh, no. You saw all the texts from him?"

"_Texts_? As in more than one? Mitchie, has he been texting you all the time, telling you to do stuff for him? And don't you dare lie to me," he told her firmly, hearing a door nearby slam shut.

She hesitated before nodding reluctantly. "He's had me doing all sorts of stuff for him; doing his laundry, cleaning his car, making coffee runs. You remember how I kept coming to the studio?"

"Yeah, but that's beside the point. You look like you're about ready to pass out," Jason said softly.

"I didn't get much sleep last night. There was a baby crying in the apartment next door. And then the night before that…" she trailed off, taking a shuddering breath.

"You mean to tell me that he kept you awake all night with freaking text messages of crap that he needed done?" Jason replied angrily.

She nodded. "I eventually had to turn the phone off because it was starting to drive me crazy. So I didn't get much sleep, and then I got all of the texts the next morning, but I didn't want to tell you or Nate because I didn't want to let either of you down, so I just did whatever he wanted me to the whole time. Not to mention that I've gotten barely enough sleep in the last two nights because of everything," she babbled.

"Mitchie, calm down for me, okay?" he asked as he pulled her into his arms for a hug. She let him pull her into his arms as he hugged her, calming down a little.

"I just need a few minutes, please?" she requested.

"No, no. It's fine. Let me go and make you some coffee while you stay in here for a bit?" he suggested.

"Coffee would be great," she said with an uneven breath.

"Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes," he informed her as he carefully pulled away from her and stood up, leaving the bathroom and shutting the door behind him. Sounds from the kitchen alerted his earlier suspicions that Shane was already awake and had been for some time. He gritted his teeth angrily as he remembered the sight of finding one of his best and emotionally strongest friends, crying her eyes out and curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor. He quietly walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, seeing his friend making bagels.

"She made coffee, but she didn't make anything to go with it. It's not that hard to remember," Shane spoke aloud to Jason, not knowing that the latter was very upset.

Before he could gripe about anything else, Jason had grabbed Shane by the shoulders, whipped him around, and slammed him into the wall next to them. "What the hell is your problem?" Shane yelled, shocked that his friend was acting this way. Jason rarely ever got angry, and if he ever did, he didn't usually resort to violence.

"What's _my_ problem?" Jason asked incredulously. "I think that's the last thing you should be worried about right now. What's _your_ problem?"

"Well, our oh-so-lovely PA didn't happen to make anything to go with our coffee, so I didn't like having to do it," Shane replied snottily, not knowing what Jason meant.

"Like I care about your damn stomach! What the hell did you do to her?" Jason snarled, his fists bunched up in Shane's t-shirt.

"Okay, you've lost me. What are you talking about?" Shane inquired confusedly.

"I'm talking about Mitchie. Don't even try to tell me that you didn't do anything to her. She's in one of the guest bathrooms, about ready to have a breakdown. So I'm gonna ask you one more time before I kick your ass: WHAT did you do to her?" Jason snarled, becoming angrier by the second.

"I didn't do anything to her," Shane said pointedly. "All I did was tell her what I wanted done. It's not my fault that she can't handle it. She's supposed to be our PA, she's been assisting me with what I need."

"Really? So you're trying to tell me that she's in the bathroom, crying for absolutely no reason at all? I don't believe that. What did you do, ask her to do so much crap on top of what she normally has to do for the band?" Jason growled.

"No," Shane said quickly. "Like I told you, I just had her do some necessary things that have to be done."

"Oh yeah, like what?" Jason asked with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh nothing much, coffee runs, cleaning my car, laundry..."

"You did what? Shane, Nate and I didn't hire her to be your personal maid. You're an adult, and you're capable of taking care of your own laundry and cleaning your car. As for your coffee runs, I did see that. If you want coffee, then you get it yourself. It's one thing to have her get us some in the morning, it's completely different to have her getting it for you all the time when you're capable of doing so," Jason snapped.

"It is not," Shane scoffed. "She's our assistant. It's her job to have us running smoothly. I require coffee to make me run smoothly. And again, not my fault she can't handle being our PA. Maybe she needs to just quit already."

"No, she doesn't need to quit being our PA, because she can handle it. You, on the other hand, need to quit being such an asshole toward her and apologize for how you've been treating her," Jason huffed angrily.

"Excuse me? You're joking, right?" Shane said.

"No, I'm not joking," Jason told him heatedly. "She's in the guest bathroom right now about to have a mental breakdown, that's not a joke. And you're the cause of it. So you're going to make things right."

"And how do you propose that I do that? One, I don't really do apologies. Two, she hates me. Three, she pisses me off incredibly easily!"

"Then I guess you'll have to learn how to apologize and pretty damn fast, won't you? I have no problem with getting Nate or Caitlyn down here, if need be," Jason threatened.

"Like that's supposed to scare me? Honestly, what could they do?" Shane snapped.

"Well, Caitlyn would threaten key parts of your male anatomy...and Nate would help her," Jason said with shrug. "So you either risk your privates or go apologize."

"How?"

"I don't care how, just do it!"

"So what? Just ap-apologize to her and that's it?"

"Actually, no. Once you get done with that, I want you to take her somewhere that's not here and get to know her," Jason replied with a sardonic smile.

"Have you lost your mind?" Shane asked with a shake of his head.

"No, I haven't lost my mind," Jason growled as he let Shane free of his grasp. "I think you need to get to know her because you don't see her like the rest of us do. So apologize, take her somewhere and get to know her. I don't care where, just make it reasonably nice. Maybe take her to get ice cream or something...she likes ice cream."

"I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" Shane replied warily.

"Not really, not unless you actually want Nate and I kicking your ass, or for Caitlyn to take off your privates and Nate to help her," Jason retorted.

Shane groaned and let his head fall back, already knowing what he had to do and not wanting to do it. "Which one is she in?"

"Across the hall from your room, actually. And be nice!" Jason hissed.

Shane glared at Jason as he stomped past him and headed towards the bathroom. He knew he had to do this because Jason would most likely be listening in and he was in no way going to risk his private parts because of a PA. Finding the bathroom in question, he sighed and knocked on the door ever so slightly and edged it open. "Torres?"

He heard a sharp exhale of breath, followed by "What the hell do you want?" she snapped, making him open the door and come into the bathroom, seeing what Jason meant. She was sitting on the floor, hugging her knees and looking like she was about ready to cry. "Did I say you could come in?" she said tersely as the door shut behind him.

"No but it's my house so I can really do whatever I want to," he told her pointedly as he leaned against the sink.

"Oh whatever, why the hell are you even in here with me? Do you want me to do more crap for you?" she asked, her voice wavering just slightly. "Or do you want to tell me what hell I'll be going through tomorrow?"

Before he could reply, she began to cry. "You know what? At this point, I don't even give a damn. I've gotten so little sleep between the past two days, and I know that you don't care right now. Just leave me alone," she cried, wiping furiously at her eyes, her breathing uneven and the tears falling fast.

Shane froze at that moment. He'd really never had to deal with crying, sobbing girls, not in this capacity anyway. He'd had to comfort his sisters when they'd dated assholes who eventually broke their hearts or the other way around, but this was somewhat out of his league. He honestly didn't know what to do right now. "Ummmm...could you..umm..don't cry..."

"Shane, I just asked you to leave me alone, please!" she repeated, the tears still falling.

"And yet, I'm still here. Look, this is...I don't...I came here to say... I'm s-s-sorry," he stumbled, not used to apologizing and having to deal with crying girls.

"W-what?" Mitchie asked as she attempted to calm herself down.

"You heard me," Shane said pointedly. "I don't want to say it again."

"Sorry. I'm just trying to get over the shock of hearing you of all people say that. Now will you answer my question?" she inquired as she looked for some tissues to dry her eyes with.

"Told you, it's my house, therefore it's my bathroom. Give me some time to get dressed and then we're leaving," he replied.

"What?" she asked him as she wiped her cheeks.

"You heard me. I said we're leaving once I get dressed."

"Why would I go anywhere with you?"she asked as she managed to stand up and look at him.

"Because I said so. It's not like I'm not going to go and kidnap you or something."

"Mr. Gray, I have work to do and I can't afford to be off doing God only knows what with you. Not to mention that you'll probably give me more crap to do," she sighed as she looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"Then consider this me making it up to you. And forget about that other stuff," he replied as he opened the door.

"I can't forget about it. I've been so busy with your orders that I haven't had time for the band. I have to do my job," she told him pointedly.

"Worry about it later Torres, we're going somewhere, and you have no say in the matter."

"And if I don't want to?" she retorted.

"Look, I'm not going to hurt you in any way. Just give me about fifteen minutes to get ready, okay? I've been told to give you a bit of a break and that you like ice cream," he replied with a knowing smirk, seeing her brighten a little.

"But what about getting recognized?" she asked him and he smirked.

"That's why I'm getting ready. Now is that a yes?"

"I guess so. I don't have a choice right?"

"Not really," he told her. "Fifteen minutes. Downstairs."

"Yes, Master Shane," she replied sarcastically, making him grin.

"Master Shane, I could get used to hearing that," he said, holding his hands up in surrender when she glared. "Just messing with you, Torres. I'll be down in a bit. Feel free to do what you want till then, but be ready."

"Are we taking a driver or is one of us driving?"

"I will. Just go," he told her as he opened the door and headed to his room.

Mitchie took a breath and attempted to make herself presentable again. After she was sure her face looked alright again, she walked downstairs and settled herself on the couch. She was going to answer some emails but she found that the very second she sat down, her eyes hadn't wanted to stay open. A short while later, Shane came down the stairs, dressed in blue jeans, a blue shirt, some sneakers, a hat, and a pair of sunglasses in hand. "Torres, where are you?" he called out, looking all over and finally seeing her asleep on the couch. He shook his head to himself, remembering that she'd told him she was extremely tired from a lack of sleep. Something that was his fault, his conscience reminded him. He walked closer to her, sitting on the coffee table. "Hey, Torres, time to wake up," he said, tapping her gently. When he didn't respond, his voice rose slightly. "Wake up, Sleeping Beauty," he teased, shaking her a little.

She groaned at the movement and attempted to get away from it but found it getting more and more pronounced. Begrudgingly, she opened her eyes and glared at Shane. "I was sleeping," she told him pointedly.

"I saw that and now you're not. Get up, we're leaving."

"You really suck right now," she moaned as she sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, I know, but you'll get used to it," he replied, watching as she stood and retrieved their coffees, handing one to him.

"So where are we going?" she asked, trying to stifle a yawn.

"Out for ice cream," he told her.

"But it's only ten in the morning," she said as she followed him to the garage.

"So?" he asked. "There is never a wrong time for ice cream and I know a good place that serves it whenever."

"And what about being recognized?" she asked him. "I don't want to end up on a tabloid cover saying we're dating."

"What the sunglasses are for. Now stop making excuses," he told her as he stepped into the car and sat down.

"You're starting to scare me now. Why are you being so nice to me?" she wondered aloud as she got in the car.

"Would you prefer me going back to how I was being?"

"Good point," she said.

"Just relax, all right? Where we're headed, it's sort of a hole in the wall kind of place, but the ice cream is amazing, and they're open practically 24/7," he replied, backing out of the driveway before hitting the gas and making her remember her seat belt.

"Do you always speed?" she asked as she buckled up and he just laughed.

"Yes. I drive like a maniac but I'm ok with that," he told her. "Why go slow when this baby was meant for speed?"

"Let me guess. You've probably gotten hundreds of tickets," she replied sarcastically.

"Not really. I've only gotten two before. One just after I got my license for not stopping completely at a stop sign and the other was for running a red light, and shockingly enough, I got them both in other cars," he informed her, making her shake her head.

"So should I just jump out now then?" she asked with a smile.

"No, not unless you want to cause yourself pain," he told her. "At the rate I'm driving you will. But let me guess…you drive like a grandma, one of those people that always stays in the slow lane right?"

"Ha ha ha," she snarked. "I don't drive overly slow, but I don't go insanely fast like you are now. I don't have an Aston Martin convertible that's practically made for speeding, unlike yourself. I've had my car for a couple of years now, and it's fine. You're not the only one who's ever gotten a ticket, you know," she informed him, making his mouth drop open in mocking shock.

"Oh really?" he asked. "And what was this ticket about? Parking? A moving violation?"

"No! It was for speeding… I may have been going a little faster than needed and a cop may have decided to pull me over and then I ended up with a ticket."

"A little faster? This I have to hear. How much?" he asked, a grin on his face.

"About 20 over the speed limit, I think," she told him, her cheeks a dark red.

"Wow, there's something I never expected to hear you telling me. And you were just chiding me for going too fast," he said, tsking at her.

"Yes, because I don't want you getting a ticket or getting arrested. We would be in the tabloids then, and personally, I look horrible in orange," she retorted.

"Point taken," he told her, but still kept his speed up. "But we're almost there so you can calm down. We'll be fine," he said, trying to calm her as he slowed down just a bit.

"Where is here?" she asked, glancing around.

He shook his head and chuckled. "You have to know everything, don't you?"

"No, I'm just curious," she replied.

"It's only a little bit farther. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner, but I prefer to go there for the ice cream," he informed her with a sly grin.

"Good ice cream?" she asked curiously and he nodded.

"Some of the best in the city, in my opinion. And not many people know about it so fans don't stalk me."

"Which I'm sure you're insanely happy about, unless you want me to tell all of your fans about it," she teased with a grin.

"Please don't. And I don't say please very often," he nearly begged. "It's one of the few places that I can go to and not have to worry about being swarmed by crazy fangirls."

"Fine," she told him. "I'll be nice about this one time, but that ice cream had better be as good as you're saying," she threatened and he breathed a sigh of relief.

"It is, I promise."

"I'll be the judge of that, thank you," she retorted as he pulled into a parking lot and parked. She got out of the car and looked around, seeing that it was a bit of a hole in the wall place, as he'd said, but that it looked quaint.

"You coming?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Lead the way," she said with a gesture and he gladly did so and she followed. "So how long have you been coming here?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Awhile. When we first moved out here, the guys and I discovered this place but it's been some time since I've been here."

"Thank you for bringing me here, then," she told him softly.

He nodded in return before holding the door open behind him for her to come in. "Shane! What a surprise! What are you doing here?" an older woman whose nametag read Karen asked.

"Making amends," he told the older woman. "And showing someone who doesn't know about the greatness that is your ice cream. Think you can hook us up?"

"What flavor do you two want?" she replied.

"Is vanilla okay?" he asked Mitchie, making her nod.

"Vanilla's great," she told Karen.

"With all the fixings on a plate?" he requested.

"Sure thing. Take a seat at that table and I'll be back in a bit," she said as he nodded and smiled.

"So how did you find this place?" Mitchie asked.

"Randomly wandering around on a rare day off," he told her as they both took a seat at a nearby table. "We decided to explore, and then find this place," he explained. "Fell in love with it because it was so secluded and because of Karen. She owns the place and makes amazing food and sundaes."

"So why haven't you been here in awhile? She seems great, and it's kinda cozy here, makes me feel like I'm at home," she said wistfully.

"I'd love to come here more often, but as we both know, my schedule has been packed lately," he reminded her.

"Yeah, I think we both remember that," she grimaced, making him nod.

"Look, I...think we kinda sorta got off on the wrong foot. Do...do you think we could maybe...you know, start over?" he suggested tentatively.

Mitchie squirmed in her seat a little and licked her lips, not sure of what to say. She wanted to be careful with what she told him. "We weren't friends, Shane, so we can't start over there. We can, however, start over as boss and employee, and maybe, from there move onto becoming friends. I'm not a completely horrible person, once you get to know me," she replied carefully, a smile on her lips.

"Ok, sounds reasonable," he told her slowly. "So tell me about yourself. Convince me that you're not as you say it, completely horrible."

"What do you want to know?"

"We could play 20 questions instead, if you want," he replied with a grin.

"No, thank you. Something tells me that you would ask me anything and everything," she said knowingly.

"I'm hurt," he responded sarcastically, holding a hand over his heart as though she'd wounded him.

"Which means I'm right," she told him cheekily.

"Whatever," he told her with a smirk. "I still think we should play it, what are you…afraid?"

"You did not just say that. Fine, you're on, pop star, but with one condition: we both get to veto one question. Deal?" she asked, holding her hand out to him but she had to pull it back when Karen returned.

"Here we are, two vanilla ice creams with all the fixings on the side, along with two waters. Anything else I can get you two?"

"Nope, that's all. Thanks Karen," Shane said as the older woman just nodded.

"You know where to find me if you need anything," she told him as she walked off and left them alone.

"Now what were you saying?" Shane asked as he reached for a spoon.

"We both get to veto on one question, so we don't have to answer, but only one. Deal?" she repeated, holding out one hand and grabbing a spoon with her right.

"Deal," he conceded as he shook on it. "I get to start though," he told her quickly and she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, go," she told him.

"Full name."

"Michelle Laura Torres. My turn...favorite place that you love to go to?" she asked.

"Wow...I've been to so many. I'd have to say it's a toss between Paris and Japan," he replied, pouring sprinkles onto his ice cream.

"Really?" She asked. "Why Japan? I mean Paris I can see but Japan? What makes it appealing?" she asked and he just grinned.

"Isn't it my turn to ask you a question?"

"Hmph, fine."

"Favorite color?"

"Red," she answered, making his eyebrows raise. "What is it?" she asked.

"I didn't figure you for liking red, that's all."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Mr. Gray. So what makes Japan so appealing?" she repeated with a smile.

"I just like it there. It's fast paced," he told her. "I like life being fast and being there is just out of this world. It's a fun time."

"Hmmm, makes sense," she told him. "Alright…favorite band?" he asked.

"You're evil."

"Yeah I know, and don't avoid the question. Favorite band?"

"I love Paramore, and no, I'm not sucking up, but Connect 3," she added with a blush.

"You're kidding!"

"Nope. My best friend Sierra let me borrow a CD of hers that was one of your first albums, and I was kinda hooked from the start," she replied with a blush.

"You don't strike me as a person who would like us, though," he teased.

"Gee, thanks," she retorted as she took a bite of her ice cream.

"Well the types of girls who usually like us are…well...teeny boppers," he told her. "Or crazed and obsessed and you don't seem like that either. Unless you tricked Nate into hiring you so you could stalk us."

"Oh, believe me, pictures of you three are already on the internet," she said, making him frown and glare at her. "Okay, bad joke. I wouldn't do that to you guys. I know you probably want a little bit of normal in with all the crazy. I just liked you guys. Your music was pretty infectious. My turn. How many siblings do you have?"

"I have 3. Two sisters, one that's a little older than I am, one that's younger, and then a brother that's younger. Why did you move to LA and did your parents approve?"

She sighed. "I moved here to go to college at UCLA and get a degree in music. As for my parents, they've been really supportive of me and what I want to do."

"Which is?" he prodded.

"Sorry, that's two questions, and it's my turn," she said triumphantly. "Have you always lived in California?"

"Actually, no. I was born in New Hampshire, raised in Maryland. I moved out here just shortly after we got the deal with the record label," he replied with a sad smile.

"And yet, somehow it doesn't sound like the fairy tale ending you were hoping for," she said.

"I don't do fairy tales, but if I did, you're right. I miss my family, so it's hard, not having them here. My dad wasn't a hundred percent supportive of me coming out here, but my mom was, and so was her brother, my Uncle Brown, who's in charge of and runs Camp Rock."

"I'm sorry to hear that your dad wasn't as supportive as you needed him to be."

"Don't be, it's not your fault. I think, in a way, he didn't want me to have come all the way out here for nothing, that he didn't want me to fail," he said quietly, not meeting her eyes.

"You proved him wrong, though. You and Nate and Jason didn't fail. You've had two albums debut on the charts at number one, and you're working on your third. I'm sure he's proud of you," she told him.

"Yeah. Anyhow, my turn. You said that you went to college to get your degree in music, but why did you go to college for that?"

Mitchie bit her lip, feeling very uncertain as to whether or not she wanted to tell him the real reason why. She'd gone there to get a degree in music and to pursue a singing career, and while the questions had started getting more intense, she wasn't exactly ready to tell him that yet. "I love music, and everything about it. The beat, the tempo, how easy it is to get yourself lost in it at times. I wanted to have a career in the music industry in pretty much any part of it, so I figured that getting a degree would be the best place to start."

"Which explains why you're doing the internship with us," he spoke.

She nodded. "Yep. I wanted to have some experience while I was still in college before I actually graduated, so I figured that an internship was my best shot. Never in a million years did I actually think that I'd wind up being Connect 3's PA, but I love doing it."

"I'm surprised that you do, all things considered," he sighed ruefully, taking a bite of his ice cream.

"I never hated it, and I don't think I ever will. It's by far one of the more stressful jobs I've ever had, don't get me wrong, but I love it. I get experience and at the same time, I have a great job. It's my turn. Hmmm," she said as she thought about what to ask. "Why are you such a jerk all the time?"

Shane's head snapped up in surprise. "What?"

"Why do you act the way you do? Why are you a jerk so much?"

He swallowed his ice cream before taking a few sips of his water and shaking his head. "Try again. I'm passing on that one," he said softly, a far off look in his eyes.

She bit her lip, part of her wanting to press on, but a larger part telling her to let it go. There was a bit of a story behind that answer, she thought, and it was best to leave it be for the moment. "Sorry," she mumbled, watching him nod in reply. "Name a guilty pleasure that you have."

His cheeks flushed bright red with color, showing that he was clearly embarrassed. "There's no chance I can pass on this one too, is there?"

"Nope. Don't worry, what's said here stays between us," she promised.

"When I have the time, I like to watch cooking shows," he muttered quietly, hoping she wouldn't hear.

Her eyebrows rose up in shock. "You're kidding me!" she replied.

"No, why?" he asked, lifting his head to meet her gaze.

"Because my mom owns a catering business, Connie's Catering. I didn't actually peg you as one to watch cooking shows. So, can you cook?"

"I'm not half bad. Don't ask Jason to ever cook for you, though," he told her with a shudder.

"That doesn't sound good."

"He ended up burning macaroni and cheese that he cooked in the microwave because he cooked it for way too long," Shane deadpanned. "We were lucky the house didn't burn to the ground."

"Shane, that's horrible!"

"Sorry, but it's the truth. The smoke detectors went off like crazy, and I'm pretty sure that the macaroni would have caught on fire if it had been in there much longer."

Images flooded her mind, making it hard for her to not laugh. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be laughing about it."

"Nah, it's fine, go ahead. We laugh about it all the time. That was one of the first things that I learned about Jason and Nate, along with a lot more."

"I'll have to remember not let him cook for me, then. I really don't want to have to put out a fire," she said with a smile.

"Believe me, Nate and I both banned Jason from doing any cooking ever in the kitchen," Shane replied with a grin before taking a last bite of his ice cream. "I'm ready to leave when you are."

Mitchie sighed, glancing at her watch and grabbing her purse. "We need to get going, but I want to finish the ice cream."

"So finish."

"But I have work to do," Mitchie protested.

"And I told you, don't worry about it. The world isn't going to come crashing down on us just because you didn't finish figuring out our schedules or send out e-mails. Jason knows that you're with me, and therefore, safe," Shane assured her.

"Okay, but I still need to finish soon. I know you three have a press conference today, and then an interview as well," she told him, as she took a bite of her melting concoction.

"And you say you need to work," he retorted with an eye roll.

"I do! While I might know your schedule for today, that doesn't mean that everything else is done or perfect, and that's the way that I prefer for things to be."

Shane shook his head as he watched her finish her treat. They had both revealed things about themselves that were personal, causing him to see her in a different light. Before, he had seen her as overbearing, rude, snotty, and a bitch. Now that he'd taken the time to get to know her as a person and not someone who was working for him, he saw that he could at the very least tolerate her. Liking her as a friend was not in the equation at the moment. He realized that she most likely only behaved how she had around him was because she had to, not to mention his personal treatment of her.

"Hey, anyone home?" she teased with a slight smile as she set her spoon in the bowl, meaning that she was done.

"Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking about some different things."

"Uh oh. Should I be worried?" she asked in a mock scared voice.

"Ha ha. No, you don't have to be. How was the ice cream?"

"It was good. Great, in fact."

"See? I told you!" he exclaimed triumphantly.

"But nothing beats Ben and Jerry's ice cream," she replied with a grin.

"Are you kidding? This is so much better than that!" he shot back.

She grabbed her purse before standing up. "No offense, but you, being a guy, would say that. Guys generally don't consume large amounts of ice cream after they've broken up from a relationship."

"Shows what you know," he told her as he stood up. "My brother ends up getting a pint and eating it all by himself after he breaks up with a girl or the other way around. It's kinda pathetic."

"I'm sure he'd love to hear that," Mitchie said dryly.

"It's the truth, unfortunately. And there's no stopping him from doing it either. I made the mistake of trying one time, and it wasn't pretty," Shane shuddered.

"Oh? Do tell."

"No thanks, that one's going to remain firmly in my head," he replied as they reached the podium.

"Hey, you two! Did you have a good time?" Karen asked as she walked up.

"Yes, I did. Thank you so much," Mitchie told her with a smile.

"It's no problem, dear. You feel free to come back here anytime you want, all right?"

"Okay, thank you," Mitchie replied with a blush.

"Here you go, Karen. Thanks for the ice cream, and keep the change," Shane told the older woman, handing her a fifty dollar bill and noticing that she rolled her eyes.

"I've told you before, you don't need to pay me so much," she sighed.

"I feel like I owe you when I come in here. You somehow manage to keep crazy people from attacking me, so yeah, I do. I got to get going, but I'll see you later."

"All right. You be good, you hear me?" she hollered after him.

"I will!" he called back as he reached the door, mentioning for Mitchie to follow him.

She followed him, getting in the passenger side and closing the car door behind her. "Shane, I want to thank you."

"For what?"

"For that. For bringing me here to a place that's special to you, Nate, and Jason when you didn't have to. I had a good time," she said softly.

He bit his lip, not sure of what to say. "You're welcome." He turned on the car and navigated it onto the road, turning around to go in the right direction. There was a bit of silence for several moments before she spoke.

"So, did I manage to convince you?"

"Hmm?" he said distractedly, having been lost in his own thoughts and paying attention to the road.

"Did I manage to convince you?" she repeated. "That I'm not a completely horrible person."

He scrunched up his face, pretending to think. "I don't know. You came awfully close, though."

"Gee, thanks!" she retorted sarcastically as she poked him in the shoulder.

"Mitchie, I'm just teasing you. And yes, you did manage to convince me, so I'm glad that we did this together. It gave me a chance to get to know you."

"And the same on my end for you," she echoed quietly. "You're not that much of a jerk when you aren't being so demanding."

"Thanks for being so nice," he snorted.

"Just being honest is all," she yawned, settling into the seat.

"Try not to fall asleep. We'll be back at the house before you know it, and I don't want to risk having to wake up a cranky Mitchie," he teased.

"Well, if somebody didn't speed so much, the trip would be longer and I could sleep," she muttered, placing her elbow on the armrest and her head on her hand, her eyes closing.

"Like I said, this car is made to go fast, not slow. You should definitely see about getting a faster car, they're amazing." He continued talking for several moments, not aware that the young woman was currently fast asleep.

"Mitchie? You awake?" he asked, after she didn't respond to something he'd said.

There was no response for a second time. He stopped at a red light, and knowing that it was a rather short one, he glanced at her quickly, seeing that her eyes were indeed shut. "Oh, great. This is gonna be so much fun," he groaned aloud to no one in particular, regretting that he'd kept her up late with texts. The only problem that he had left to figure out now was what he was going to do to get her out of the car once he got back to the house.


End file.
